Let's Light Up the World!
by Iheartthee
Summary: After 20 years of non-existence, the new principal of William McKinley High School Holly Holiday reboots the glee club, with help from the first generation of the New Directions - and their kids! Noah Puckerman is taking over the glee club, and he's in for one hell of a year. [SYOC]
1. Cast List

**_After Sue Sylvester suddenly retires from being the principal of William McKinley High School for 20 years, Holly Holiday takes her place._**

**_Holly immediately decides to bring back the glee club as an extracurricular activity for students, and she recruits the original members of the Directions for help._**

**_With his pool-cleaning business at it's lowest, Noah Puckerman's wife Rachel convinces him to spend a few afternoons a week working at McKinley as the director of the New Directions._**

**_Knowing that gathering enough members to join the glee club would be difficult, both Rachel and Puck get help from their old friends and the second generation._**

****GLEE****

**THE COUPLES:**

**Noah and Rachel Puckerman: **  
Rachel and Puck had never lost touch after high school. After Finn's tragic death, the pair began to communicate on a day-to-day basis, seeking comfort in each other and growing closer through each phone call and text message. They'd become as close friends as Rachel was with Kurt, and Puck with Finn. After the glee club had been permanently disbanded by Sue and the alumni had returned to the choir room to bid the New Directions a final goodbye, Puck had fought for his second chance with Quinn, and Rachel couldn't be more happy for the couple. However, it wasn't long before Quinn had become extremely jealous of Puck's relationship with Rachel, breaking up with him after telling him to acknowledge his feelings for the other girl. Puck realized that Quinn was right; he really did love Rachel, but he was just afraid to come to terms with his feelings for Finn's girl. It was a supportive, though still heartbroken, Quinn who had convinced Puck to pursue a relationship with Rachel, telling him that it was what Finn would have wanted. Puck headed straight for New York and begged Rachel to go out with him. Rachel was hesitant at first, but had eventually decided to agree to go out with him. After a series of dates, the couple had finally acknowledged that they had fallen in love. After many years, they'd gotten married and decided to raise a family. Rachel retired from Broadway and Puck had decided to find a real job, having spent years working as a waiter, and the couple moved back to Lima.  
Rachel is now a retired Broadway actress and singer and a stay-at-home mom, while Puck owns a pool-cleaning business and is now the director of the New Directions.  
_They have two daughters._

1. **Lydia Finnleigh Puckerman** (Crystal Reed) | Age: 16 | Birthday: July 31 | Grade: Junior | Sexuality: Pansexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Samantha Barks | Clubs/teams: Glee and Debate | Clique: Unspecified | Creator: Maeeflower | _Lydia's the opinionated dreamer who has her head in the clouds and her feet on the ground._

2. **Barbra Bethany Puckerman **(Sarah Hyland) | Age: 15 | Birthday: February 14 | Grade: Sophomore | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Ariana Grande | Clubs/teams: Drama club, choir, glee, yearbook, dance committee, celibacy club, debate team | Clique: Drama kids | Creator: AlphaWriter1 | _Babs is all about the spotlight-she needs attention and applause. She's very blunt and incredibly stubborn just like her parents. She makes friends based on how much attention and praise people give her._

**Brittany and Santana Lopez-Pierce:**  
After their reunion in Lima, Brittany and Santana made a great deal of effort in order to maintain a long-distance relationship. Santana had quickly, though bluntly, broken things off with Dani, but Dani was understanding, since she and Santana never had anything special anyway. After struggling to stay away from Santana after getting back together with her, Brittany had moved to New York as soon as she could so that she could be with Santana. The two bought an apartment and lived together for many years until the couple made a trip back to Lima, where Santana had finally proposed to Brittany during a romantic dinner date at BreadstiX. It was Brittany's idea to stay in Lima instead of moving back to New York, as Lima was their home.  
Brittany now co-owns a dance studio with Mike, and Santana is a dance instructor at the studio.  
_They have a daughter who was conceived using Santana's egg and an unknown sperm donor and a son who was conceived using Brittany's egg and an unknown sperm donor._

1. **Alyssa Genevieve Lopez-Pierce** (Selena Gomez) | Age: 16 | Birthday: January 19 | Grade: Junior | Sexuality: Bisexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Skylar Grey | Clubs/teams: Cheerios, glee club, prom committee | Clique: Cheerios/unspecified | Creator: whenyou'rereadycomeandgetit | _Aly is outgoing, popular and lovable, but has a reputation for being a slut._

2. **Aiden Carlos Lopez-Pierce** (Niall Horan) | Age: 15 | Birthday: January 1 | Grade: Freshman | Sexuality: Homosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Bruno Mars | Clubs/teams: Glee, basketball, track | Clique: Basketball team | Creator: DauntlessInDistrict9 |_Aiden is happy and carefree. He's energetic and comedic. Aiden is loveable and caring._

**Kurt and Blaine Hummel-Anderson:**  
After graduation, Blaine had moved into the Bushwick apartment and began to attend NYADA. He dropped out of the university, since Broadway and musical theatre were never really his thing, and applied at NYU. The couple were still young when they'd gotten married, having an element ceremony in Lima. It was at their wedding reception where both Kurt and Blaine had decided that they'd move back to Lima as soon as Blaine graduates.  
Kurt is now an actor in local theatre productions and Blaine is a vocal coach.  
_They have a son who was adopted from foster care as a child and a daughter who was adopted at birth._

1. **George Christopher Hummel-Anderson** (Roshon Fegan) | Age: 17 | Birthday: April 1 | Grade: Junior | Sexuality: Bisexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Roshon Fegan | Clubs/teams: Varsity Soccer team, Mathletes, Glee | Clique: Jocks/geeks | Creator: LocalXmusicXjellybeanX | _Often stereotyped as a geek, or nerd, but one hundred percent opposite of that._

2. **Arianna Lauren Hummel-Anderson** (Sasha Pieterse) | Age: 16 | Birthday: April 10 | Grade: Junior | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston mixed | Clubs/teams: Cheerios, the track team and Glee | Clique: Cheerios | Creator: SunlightHurtsMyEyes | _She's an explosion- people don't know what to think of her. She doesn't care what anyone thinks, she doesn't trust easily, but when she does, she'll trust you with everything. She's very talented and knows it, and will try her hardest to reach her goal._

**Sam and Mercedes Evans:**  
Mercedes had spent a long time in New York from the fall of 2013. Having spent so much time with her old friends, she'd decided it would be best for her to record her album in Lima, her home, rather than in a big city like Los Angeles. Before returning to Lima, she'd spent most of her time in New York helping Sam pursue his dreams of becoming a model. By spending so much time together, both Sam's and Mercedes' feelings for each other had resurrected, with the two slowly becoming a couple once again. They did not make their relationship official, at least to their friends, and broke things off when Mercedes headed back to LA, and then to Lima, while Sam had stayed in New York. After a few years of video chatting and phone calls, Sam showed up in Lima, at Mercedes' doorstep, down on one knee. She immediately accepted his proposal, and the couple were engaged for about a year before finally tying the knot.  
Mercedes is now a singer and Sam is a former model and stay-at-home dad.  
_They have two sons._

1. **James Finn Ryan Evans** (Taylor Lautner) | Age: 17 | Birthday: September 21 | Grade: Junior | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Ed Sheeran, with a little bit of Zac Efron | Clubs/teams: Football | Clique: Jocks/populars | Creator: SunlightHurtsMyEyes | _From the outside he's just your average Quarterback, but once you get to know him, you'll see a whole other side of him. He doesn't like to think too much about he future and that could be his downfall. Put him with the right girl, and he'll shine._

2. **Corey Franklin Evans **(Jaden Smith) | Age: 15 | Birthday: July 22 | Grade: Sophomore | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Josh Levi | Clubs/teams: Soccer, hockey, glee | Clique: Jocks/floater/unspecified | Creator: Don'tWannaCloseMyEyes | _Corey is the cockiest person on the planet. He is outgoing, energetic, fun-loving, and a total jokester._

**Mike and Tina Chang:**  
It seemed as though every time they reunited, their Asian Fusion grew stronger, until Mike and Tina finally gave in to their feelings and reunited as a couple. It was difficult at first, with Mike having to deal with Tina's drastic personality change, and the both of them having to maintain a long-distance relationship. Tina's diva-like attitude had quickly faded though, thanks to her being reunited with Mike, who always brought out the best in her and helped her see who she really was. After Mike had graduated from Jofferey's, he spent a year living alone in Chicago, unsure if what exactly he was going to do. Tina graduated from Browns University a year later, and they both decided it was best to move back to Lima to be together.  
Mike now co-owns a dance studio with Brittany and Tina is a veterinarian.  
_They have a daughter._

**Miya Brittany Mercedes Chang **(Arden Cho) | Age: 16 | Birthday: May 4 | Grade: Sophomore | Sexuality: Bisexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Beyoncé | Clubs/teams: Cheerios, glee, scholastic decathlon, ballet, soccer | Clique: Cheerios | Creator: DauntlessInDistrict9 | _Miya is sexy and charming. She's funny and hilarious. Miya is smart and witty._

**Artie and Kitty Abrams:**  
During Kitty's junior year of high school, she and Artie had struggled to maintain a long-distance relationship, deciding it was best to break up. However, they were even more miserable trying to get over each other throughout Kitty's senior year. After she graduated, Kitty headed straight to New York to be with Artie, and the two rekindled their relationship. They lived together in a small apartment for a few years, until Kitty had finally graduated from NYU. After she graduated, they chose to follow Rachel and Puck, Kurt and Blaine, and Brittany and Santana back to Lima.  
Artie now directs plays at local theaters and Kitty is a lawyer.  
_They have two sons._

1. **Patrick Ethan William Abrams** (Alexander Ludwig) | Age: 17 | Birthday: March 17 | Grade: Junior | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Max Schneider | Clubs/teams: Football, basketball, soccer, glee | Clique: Jocks | Creator: DauntlessInDistrict9 |_Patrick is a jock, loves sport and has dedicated his life to it. He's kind and charming. Patrick is a gentleman and treats everyone with equal respect._

2. **Benjamin Jasper Abrams **(Connor Jessup) | Age: 16 | Birthday: March 30 | Grade: Sophomore | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Jesse McCartney | Clubs/teams: Basketball, Glee | Clique: Jocks, eventually Gleeks | Creator: calisurfingboy2 |_Ben is a boy who once has everything he could ever want. But this year his world is getting turned upside down and he is going to learn that being a part of something special makes you special._

**Jake and Marley Puckerman:**  
Jake never stopped loving Marley but constantly beat himself down for hurting her. Jake did eventually regain her trust as a friend, but they never got back together until after they graduated from high school. Both Jake and Marley attended OSU, and during their freshman year of college, Jake asked Marley out. Marley was hesitant to go out with him again, but she couldn't help but still feel something for him too, and decided to give him a second chance, making it clear that it was also his last chance. Jake proved to Marley that he could be a great boyfriend, and when the time came, husband and father. They never left Lima.  
Jake is a mechanic and Marley is a kindergarten teacher.  
_They have two daughters._

1. **Jordan Noelle Puckerman** (Shay Mitchell) | Age: 16 | Birthday: December 14 | Grade: Junior | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Foxes | Clubs/teams: Glee, The McKinley Muckraker | Clique: Unspecified/None | Creator: Don'tWannaCloseMyEyes | _Jordan really is her father's daughter, being every bit as quiet, distant and aloof. Though temperamental and easily hurt, Jordan is far tougher than she seems.  
_

2. **Annabella Melody Puckerman** (Barbara Palvin) | Age: 15 | Birthday: August 24 | Grade: Freshman | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Dove Cameron | Clubs/teams: Cheerios | Clique: Cheerios | Creator: angierae101 | _Bella is a very sweet and naïve girl who is quirky and has trouble fitting in at school._

**Ryder Lynn:**  
Ryder had started dating Marissa, the girl he thought was Katie, sometime during his junior year. They had a fun, normal high school relationship and were always smitten with each other. However, their relationship never seemed to grow from that. They'd broken up shortly before graduation, but reunited during their sophomore year at college at OSU. They had an on and off relationship throughout college, but eventually decided that they should try to become more stable with each other. While all of his friends were having babies and planning weddings, Ryder felt pressurized and proposed to Marissa. While they were engaged, Marissa had fallen pregnant with Ryder's baby and had given birth to a boy nine months later. The couple never got married and were constantly fighting. Ryder found Marissa to be an irresponsible parent to his son and eventually won full custody of their child, however Marissa still gets to see their son.  
Ryder is now a gym instructor.  
_They have one son._

**Lucas Trevor Lynn** (Garrett Gardner) | Age: 16 | Birthday: March 25 | Grade: Junior | Sexuality: Heterosexual | Celebrity sing-alike: Harry Styles | Clubs/teams: Glee | Clique: None | Creator: Iheartthee | _Luke has a quiet and mysterious demeanor, and gives off a bad boy vibe. While he is a little rebellious and cheeky, he is generally a reserved person._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Getting Ready**

**_A/N #1: Please note that I will not use all of the storylines that you guys have suggested. I just asked for storylines in order to find out what you're all open to._**

**_A/N #2: Sorry this has taken so long. I started and deleted it three times, because I wasn't happy._**

**_A/N #3: I've been thinking of who will be the leaders of the glee club. I know Barbra will take the place of the female lead because she is definitely the most dedicated to glee club out of every OC, though she may have to fight for it. Choosing a male lead is going to be a hundred times more difficult, but if you want it to be your OC, PM me._**

**_A/N #4: The rest of the main characters will be introduced in chapter 2, at school._**

****GLEE****

The first day of school is always a rush.

Everything you do with complete ease on every other day of the school year is a hundred times more difficult on the first day of school. Waking up hours earlier than usual took some getting used to, wondering which teachers you're going to end in up having was a little stressful, and knowing that this was only the first day of a whole school year filled with slushie facials and freakin'_studying_ was certainly no motivator.

Patrick Ethan William Abrams was _not_ looking forward to his Junior year.

Patrick wasn't one of the kids who was constantly thrown into dumpsters or shoved into lockers. He was popular, and he was - in_some_ ways - excited to go back and to see his friends more often, but school was _school_.

Nobody liked homework or assignments or tests, or teachers being on you at all times. Not even the smartest, nerdiest kid enjoyed spending all day in class, being forced to learn information that had no relevance to real life whatsoever.

Patrick took a look in the mirror and gave his own reflection a nod of approval.

He knew he was good-looking, what with his washboard abs and great amount of height at six foot three, though it was a mystery as to where all of that height had come from. From his mother, he had inherited golden blonde hair, and from his father, clear blue eyes, both of which were nicely complimented by his naturally tanned skin tone.

Patrick, knowing that his casual outfit of a light green T-shirt, a pair of jeans and black sneakers was incomplete, threw on his letterman jacket to polish off his look, just before fluffing his hair and heading to the kitchen.

"Mornin'," he greeted, taking a seat opposite his dad at the dining room table.

His mom Kitty stood up from her chair and walked over to the sink, in which she placed her empty cereal bowl while saying, "Why didn't you get up on time this morning? We're already finishing up."

Patrick groaned and slouched in his chair. "I wanted pancakes."

"Well," his brother began, seated on his left, "Eat an apple or a muffin. We still have to pick up Miya, and we're not going to be late for the first day of school."

Benjamin Jasper Abrams was a year younger than his brother, and much shorter.

He had inherited a small amount of height from both of his parents, standing at a mere five feet and six inches - but still growing. He had the small stature of both his mom and his dad as well, weighing only 118 pounds.

Like his brother, he'd been gifted with his father's innocent blue eyes and his mother's golden hair, though more sandy in color and styled neatly.

Ben handed a shiny green apple to Patrick, and stood up from his seat, patting his older brother on the shoulder. "Eat in the car."

"Somebody's excited to get to school," Artie quipped in sarcasm.

Ben rolled his eyes. He really was anything _but_ excited to go back to school, but he had woken up early for the first time in a few months, and the effort would not go to waste.

High school was not _ideal_ for Ben - is it for anybody? - but like his brother, he was popular, which meant that his high school experience would be survivable.

Ben knew that high school was _okay_, at best, for somebody like him. He'd be fine just as long as he'd go along with whatever his jock friends were doing, even if it meant picking on some poor, innocent kid.

Being popular was _not_ easy.

****GLEE****

Arianna Lauren Hummel-Anderson twirled around in the middle of her fathers' kitchen, the bottom of her bright yellow sundress floating in the air slightly, briefly and elegantly as she did so.

The bulky heart pendant of her long silver chain swayed as she came to a standstill, as her long golden blonde hair tickled the inside of her elbows.

"You look great, sweetie," Kurt smiled at his daughter. "Very bright and summery. Just like you."

"I just can't wait to get back into my Cheerios uniform again!" Aria breathed. "But I don't wanna take this dress off..."

"Either way," Kurt assured her, "you look gorgeous."

Aria smiled.

She knew she was gorgeous, with her beautiful blue eyes, golden hair, and naturally pale skin that had tanned lightly over the summer, but it was still nice to hear a compliment from somebody, even if that person was your dad.

Aria stood at five feet and nine inches, towering over many of the other girls at school and being the exact same height as her older brother, and along with her tiny waist and muscular build that she'd acquired from playing sports, she looked like a supermodel.

"You are going to blow Puck away with your audition," Blaine chimed in, his mouth still full with corn flakes. "Perfect song choice, perfect pitch."

Aria's brother walked into the kitchen and headed straight to the fridge, while Blaine gulped down the last of his cereal And said, "Perfection, Aria!"

"Am I the _only_ person who gives Little Miss Perfect over here a reality check now and then?" George Christopher Hummel-Anderson asked rhetorically, his head still buried in the refrigerator.

Aria rolled her eyes playfully and chuckled. "Shut up, Chris. You know you love me."

Chris emerged from the refrigerator with a large carton of orange juice in his right hand, and shut the door of the fridge with his left.

"Oh my God!" Chris groaned upon seeing his sister's outfit. "That dress is _way_ too short. Go put on pants or something."

"No," Aria stomped her foot. "You know, you really have to stop bossing me around."

Kurt buried his face in his hands, while Blaine shook his head.

It was hard for them, as parents, to be able to have at least a little control over their two kids. Both Chris and Aria were so headstrong, so confident and so in control, that their strong personalities - along with Kurt's and Blaine's - often clashed.

However, the family had still managed to maintain a close relationship with one another, being very protective over each other.

"Don't worry about _my_ clothes, worry about _yours_," Aria told her brother, raising an eyebrow. "What the hell is on your head?"

"It's called a SnapBack," Chris said defensively, touching his cap and securing it more firmly on his head, shade falling over his hazel eyes.

"So, Chris, are you all prepared-?"

"Yes!" Chris cut off Blaine's question with an enthusiastic answer. "The syllabus for this year is actually pretty simple, especially in World History. I've already started preparing myself for tests. That reminds me; I need to buy new study cards-"

"Could you relax for just a few minutes?" Blaine asked Chris. "You study too hard. And I was asking about your glee club audition."

Chris knew he studied too much, but it wasn't as if all of his hard work was for nothing. He just wished that his dad's appreciated his dedication to academics more, instead of just complaining about how unhealthy it was to study too hard.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I've prepared."

The question was silly, and laughable in Chris' eyes. _"Are you all prepared?"_

Chris Hummel-Anderson was _always_ prepared.

****GLEE****

"Should I introduce myself? Or should I just wait for try outs and see if they come to me? What about glee club? Uncle Puck will accept me, right? I'm so excited for auditions! I've been rehearsing all summer..."

A conversation with her daughter was like looking in the mirror for Marley Rose-Puckerman.

Annabella Melody Puckerman was like a slightly smaller, more energetic and more talkative clone of her mother.

She had the same light brown hair that cascaded down her back in gentle waves, with Bella's ending at her ass. She had the same piercing blue eyes that only made her look more innocent, even with her great amount of height that she had inherited from her parents, standing at exactly five feet and seven and a half inches, almost as tall as her mom.

Bella needed to make a good impression on her first day of high school, and naturally she'd gone to her mother for advice. Of course, Marley had given the most cliché yet most helpful advice: "Be yourself."

So, Bella dressed "herself", wearing a baby blue sundress that nicely complimented her curves, matched with wedged heels and minimal jewelry.

But, she never really fitted in in middle school, and no matter how good she looked, her appearance did not help. She was still just a quirky, naïve and innocent little girl.

"Look, be confident," Marley told Bella. "On my first day at McKinley, I just walked straight up to the glee club and introduced myself. You'll have them at hello, trust me."

"Are you sure?" Bella asked. "I mean, I don't wanna be somebody I'm not but I don't wanna be the school's weird girl either. In middle school everybody just made fun of me for talking too much and being too happy about things but that's who I am. I really wish they would just give me a chance because-"

"Maybe _you_ should give _them_ a chance to get two words in."

Bella frowned at her sister's words.

"Jordan, be nice to your sister," Marley scolded her older daughter.

Jordan Noelle Puckerman wasn't usually this snarky, but she was very cold in personality. She was only ever snarky when she was feeling exceptionally good or cocky, which was hardly ever, since Jordan always seemed to be in a bad mood.

"Why are _you_ so cheerful today?" Marley asked Jordan.

Jake appeared, and placed an arm around his oldest daughter's shoulders. "Jordan has been working all summer and she saved up enough money to pay for half of the car she wanted, and I'm paying the other half so today she's getting her car."

Marley was taken aback. "Why wasn't I included in this? I am her mom."

"Marley," Jake began, moving over to his wife and placing his hands on her shoulders. "You handle your daughter, and I'll handle mine."

Marley sighed. "Fine."

In a weird way, it was true.

While Bella was a knock-off of her mom, Jordan was her father's daughter, while not even a little of Marley in her.

She had the same distant and reclusive personality, and the same laid back attitude as Jake had always had, with a "whatever" reaction to anything.

Jordan looked more like Jake too. She'd inherited her curly black hair from her father's side of the family, and had a darkly tanned complexion similar to her father's. She had the same chocolate brown eyes, though in an almond shape, more similar to Jake's mom's eyes, and she'd inherited both of her parents' soft features. She was quite petite in physique, with an above average height of five feet and six inches, a little shorter than her sister.

Jordan also dressed very differently to her younger sister.

While Bella was more of a girly-girl, Jordan didn't put much effort into her appearance. She'd thrown on a dark denim mini skirt, a plain black v-neck and a dark blue checkered flannel shirt, with her usual black leather ankle boots.

"Oh, I can't drop you guys off at school today," Marley suddenly remembered. "I have to go set up my class, so I called Ryder and you're going with Lucas."

_"What?"_ both teenage girls exclaimed in unison.

"Suck it up," Jake said casually. "Or you guys can walk."

****GLEE****

Miya Brittany Mercedes Chang sang the last few notes of the song she had prepared for her glee club audition.

She heard loud clapping coming from behind her, and stood up from her seat at the piano, turning around to see her father.

"You sound amazing," Mike said. "You are so lucky you got your singing ability from your mom."

Miya smiled and took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked.

"Yeah," Miya smiled, baring pearly white teeth. "Just a little nervous."

"You'll be fine," Mike assured her.

Just then, Tina hurried into the room.

"Artie called. Patrick and Ben will be here in a few minutes, so I hope you've eaten and you're all ready to go."

"I am totally fine," Miya laughed. Tina really needed to stop babying her.

Miya stood up and picked up her backpack, moving her long black hair over onto one shoulder so that it would not get caught in anything.

Miya was petite, at five feet and two inches tall, with a skinny physique similar to her dad's. She had a naturally tanned skin tone, with clear and unblemished skin, and dark brown Asian eyes that always seemed to display wisdom. With her small, angled features and sharp cheekbones, Miya was beautiful.

Miya jumped upon hearing the sound of a car horn.

"Patrick and Ben are here," she said. "Gotta go!"

Miya hurried past her parents and headed out the door, hearing her mom call out "Have fun!" and her dad say "Good luck!" on her way out.

She went outside and immediately jumped into the back seat of Patrick's car.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted, hugging Ben and then Patrick awkwardly as they were still in their seats.

"Hey, Miya," Ben smiled. "How was your summer?"

"It was awesome!" Miya exclaimed. "Mexico is so beautiful!"

"You are so lucky you didn't have to sit around all summer," Patrick complained, stepping on the gas as Ben nodded in agreement. "I was so bored!"

"Are your parents making you audition for glee club also?" Ben asked.

"Yeah," Miya said, relaxing in the backseat. "But it sounds like fun. It's something new."

"Yeah, I guess," Ben replied, while Patrick nodded, eyes focused on the road ahead.

Miya sighed. "A new year, a new life, a new us."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Back to School**

**_A/N #1: I've got some questions that you guys will be able to answer by the end of this chapter (which are not compulsory, I'm just curious). Who is your favorite male and female OC, besides your own, based on what you know about them at the moment? Which OC do you think will be your favorite as you learn more about them? And if you have any ship ideas, let me know!_**

**_A/N #2: I wanted to have the quiz up today, but Quotev was being a bitch by not saving anything for me._**

**_A/N #3: I wanted everyone to make an appearance in this chapter but I couldn't work Chris and Aria in without making it too long, so they're not in this chapter. Sorry about that!_**

**_A/N #4: Aria's, Luke's and Aly's sing-alike have been changed, and Jordan's creator is contemplating changing her look-alike. I was considering the same for Luke, so I'm just letting you guys know that if there's anything you'd like to change about your OC, just let me know while we're still early on in the story._**

****GLEE****

Lucas Trevor Lynn didn't even _try_ to look presentable for school, throwing on a long-sleeved grey t-shirt and faded jeans with - were they black? - sneakers. He _barely_ ran his fingers through his brown curls, and he didn't even _think_ of looking in the mirror. He knew what he looked like - fair-skinned, above average height and an average, somewhat lanky build - so he didn't feel the need to look at himself everyday.

It was the first day of school, so he was irritable. _And_ he was being forced to give his dad, Ryder's, friends' daughters a ride to school, so he was extra irritable.

Couldn't they be boys?

Girls always talked too much about stupid, shallow things, and they always annoyed Luke. Of course, nobody would believe him if he ever had to say that out loud, because what kind of a badass hates girls?

Jordan didn't talk much, but it wasn't much help since Bella talked so much that it made up for Luke _and_ Jordan's silence.

"I can't believe I'm actually gonna try out for the cheerleading squad! Maybe I'll actually be popular! You know, I've prepared three songs for my glee audition..."

So Luke turned up the volume of the radio so loud that he couldn't hear Bella's babbling anymore and kept his blue eyes locked on the road, which didn't keep him from nearly killing a few pedestrians.

"What are you doing?" Jordan exclaimed, regarding his careless driving. "Are you _trying_ to get us all killed?"

_Yes_.

Bella didn't even seem to notice, still babbling about how _delightful_ high school was going to be.

"Come on," Luke smirked, glancing at Jordan for a brief moment. "It's exciting."

So what if Luke enjoyed the thrill of a near death experience? Sue him.

"...not sure whether I should do pop or show tunes or acoustic or something more fun and upbeat- ooh! Maybe if I sing during cheerleading try-outs they'll accept me right away, and I won't have to wait for like a _whole_ day before finding out whether I made it or not and- oh, I don't even know where the gym is! Jordan, you'll show me around, right?"

And as the car rolled into the parking lot of William McKinley High School, Bella Puckerman shut up for the first time in her life.

"I have to go see Hannah," Jordan mumbled.

Just when Luke thought she was done talking, Jordan spoke up again. "I'm sure Luke would _love_ to show you around."

God, she was a bitch. This was probably payback for his careless driving.

But unlike Jake and Marley Puckerman - well, from what Luke knew about them - he wasn't afraid to disappoint Bella.

"You know what," Bella said, "I can show _myself_ around."

Luke didn't know whether he should feel relieved or offended.

He slouched in his car seat and groaned.

No matter where he went, Luke was going to be judged, and he didn't know whether he loved that or loathed it.

****GLEE****

James Finn Ryan Evans was ecstatic to be back at school.

The same couldn't be said for him the night before, but now that he was at McKinley, he was loving it.

"Dude, we have like eight new slushie flavors!" his brother exclaimed, already downing a cup of slushie. "_Eight_! I'm in slushie heaven!"

"Gimme that!" James grabbed the slushie. "You don't need more energy. Dad said you came out of the womb doing Gangnam Style."

While both Evans boys loved sports, Corey Franklin Evans was at least a hundred times more energetic than his older brother.

Corey was exactly four inches shorter than his brother, standing at five foot eight, with a long and lean stature that was built for running, while James, at exactly six feet, was muscular, with a physique more suitable for football. Corey was also tanned much darker than James was, and while James had deep blue eyes, Corey had inherited his warm brown ones from his mom.

"What's Gangnam Style?" Corey asked curiously.

James sighed and swallowed a gulp of Corey's strawberry-banana flavored slushie. "Some dance that people did in the olden days."

"Hey!" James snapped, as Corey snatched the slushie out of his hands, spilling some onto the floor.

"James! Corey!"

Both of the Evans brothers turned their heads to see Patrick Abrams heading over to them, weaving through a flood of people, with his brother Ben and their friend Miya closely following.

Patrick was James' best friend for as long as they could remember. As kids, their parents and all of their friends would practically force all of their kids to hang out, but friendship came naturally for James and Patrick.

James was also pretty good friends with Ben and Miya, and Corey got along quite well with Patrick, though not so much with Miya and Ben. The Abrams, the Evans and the Changs would be like one big, happy family, if only it weren't for Corey and Ben's stupid feud.

They were both jocks, their families were close, and they hung out with the same people, but for some reason, the two sophomores couldn't breathe the same air as each other for even a few minutes before things got physical.

James was pretty sure that Corey didn't like Ben because he was such a follower. He always seemed to be doing what his friends were doing, and while he was friendly and a nice guy, to James at least, there seemed to be something a little intense about Ben.

Corey was the complete opposite, being cocky, careless and comical. He was free-spirited and he marched to the beat of his own drum. That's probably why Ben never liked him, because he never took anything seriously and he seemed to think that he was a gift sent from God.

For Corey, everything was a party, and although James loved his brother, he was a little bothered by Corey's 'too cool to care' attitude.

"Hey!" James smiled, as the group approached him and Corey. "Hey guys!"

After a few hugs and handshakes were exchanged, James stepped back to find Corey and Ben glaring at each other.

"Ben."

"Corey."

"Ben, why don't you go find Aiden and Bella?" Patrick stepped in. "Maybe show them around..."

"Yeah," James nodded, looking at Patrick and then at Corey. "I'm pretty sure Corey has places to be too."

"I've got seven slushie flavors to try out!" Corey beamed, hurrying off at lightning speed.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm gonna go find Aiden."

After he left, James sighed with relief. "Even the way they look at each other is vicious."

"Yeah," Miya nodded. "Anyway, I've gotta go see Coach Bree. I'll see you guys around, alright?"

James watched dreamily as Miya walked away, and then turned to look at Patrick, who he noticed was staring at her in the same dreamy way.

****GLEE****

"You look great! Everyone is going to love you and you're gonna make tons of friends. You took your insulin shot, right? If you didn't, take it _now_. You thinking about joining any clubs? Besides glee club, of course, since mom and mamma are always going on about it..."

Aiden Carlos Lopez-Pierce rolled his eyes playfully and let out a soft chuckle.

His sister was such a mom sometimes, and no boy needed _three_ moms on them at _all_ times.

"Basketball and track, I guess," he shrugged. "Where are try-outs?"

"I'll show you around before glee auditions."

Aiden loved sport, and it was as if he was born to play sports.

After all, Brittany Lopez-Pierce was his biological mom, and he looked a lot like her. He was six feet tall with a healthy build and ivory skin, with the same soft blonde hair and innocent blue eyes that his mom had.

Of course, his sister looked extremely different to him, having different biological parents.

Alyssa Genevieve Lopez-Pierce was Santana, their mamma's, biological daughter. She stood at five feet and seven inches tall with an athletic and slender physique. She was naturally tanned a golden color due to her Latina roots, but wasn't _nearly_ as caramel-skinned as her mamma. With her dark brown waves cut an inch above shoulder-length and her soft, warm hazel eyes, Alyssa was very pretty, and she was very well aware of how pretty she was.

She just didn't feel quite as pretty when she spent time with her friends, Aria and Miya.

Aiden spaced out for a few moments, being shaken into reality by his best friend Ben.

"Hey, I was looking for you," Ben said. "Hey, Aly!"

"Hi!" Alyssa smiled widely.

"Have you seen Bella?" Aiden asked Ben. "I just wanna go explore the school. High school seems like such fun!"

"If you consider four and a half hours of homework every night and eating baby food for lunch fun, then yeah, it's _awesome_," Ben smirked.

Aiden wrinkled his nose but didn't lose his optimistic attitude, still wearing his big smile.

"Anyway," Ben continued. "Patrick said I should show you and Bella around but I don't see Bella so..."

Aiden waited for Ben to continue, but he left the sentence incomplete, probably waiting for Aiden to suggest what they should do.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. She loved Ben as if he were her brother, but he really needed to take the lead sometimes.

"You guys go look for Bella," she said. "I'll go find Aria or Mi-"

"Hey, Aly," came the voice of Hunter Schmidt, the school bully. "Looking sexy as hell, like always."

Alyssa rolled her eyes, but she put on a fake smile anyway. "Not too bad yourself, Schmidt."

Hunter smirked and winked. "You know, there is a lot of room in the backseat of my car and I know how much you _love_ car sex."

Alyssa knew about her bad reputation, about how everybody saw her as the sluttiest girl in school, and about how every guy jumped at the opportunity to get with her because she was so _easy_.

"Shut up," Aiden snapped at Hunter. "Leave my sister alone and go fuck yourself."

Hunter glared at Aiden, and then looked at Ben. "Are you really hanging out with this dweeb?"

When Ben didn't reply, Hunter snorted and strutted away.

Alyssa smiled at Aiden. "Thanks."

****GLEE****

"You know, I was kinda pissed when Rachel signed me up to be the glee club coach behind my back," Noah Puckerman said to his daughters as the trio walked into William McKinley High School, "but I kinda like that I'm gonna be hanging around here a little more. This way, I can keep an eye on the two of you."

Lydia Finnleigh Puckerman exchanged an awkward glance with her younger sister as the pair followed their father down the hallway, their heads bowed in embarrassment.

"Oh my God," Lydia whispered to her sister as they kept a safe distance from their father. "Do you think he'll be breathing down our necks all the time now that he's here?"

Barbra Bethany Puckerman shook her head.

"He's not gonna be here that often," she said. "He's only the glee club director, not an actual teacher."

Barbra wasn't going to let her dad being at her school get her down. She was far too excited for glee club auditions to be bothered by anything.

It was about time that the school added glee to its long list of clubs. Barbra had heard many stories from her parents, though mostly her mom, about glee club and she was excited to showcase her talent and improve her singing, though she didn't need improvement.

"I'm gonna go see Principal Holiday-"

"What happened to Principal Sylvester?" Lydia interrupted her father.

Puck turned to look at his daughters.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I guess she died."

Lydia and Barbra looked at each other again, unsure of what to think, but they both knew better than to take their father's assumptions seriously.

"Mr. Puckerman, I am Hannah Richardson, editor of the McKinley Muckraker," said a small brunette girl who seemed to appear out of nowhere, with a notepad and pen in her hands. "Based on my research, you were in the New Directions when they were crowned National Champions in the year 2012. Do you think that as glee club director you will be able to reclaim the title of the National Champions of Show Choirs after all these years?"

"Hell yeah," Puck said cockily. "With my kickass Puckerman awesomeness leading the group, there's no way we're going to lose Nationals."

Hannah opened her mouth to speak but before she could, Puck brushed past her and headed into Principal Holiday's office.

Barbra turned around and hoped that Hannah didn't see her.

Being the daughter of Broadway star Rachel Berry and always playing the lead role in the school' splays and musicals, Barbra was constantly getting interviewed by Hannah for the school newspaper.

Hannah was like the paparazzi, and that annoyed Barbra to no end.

Barbra always dressed runway-ready, and wearing her black high-waisted skirt and red crop top, she just hoped that Hannah wouldn't notice her as she tried her best to blend in with the crowds.

Barbra, like her sister, was short, and she'd inherited her curvy but muscular build from her mother. She had her parents' olive skin tone, with her father's round face and youthful features, and her mother's full lips, innocent dark chocolate eyes and dark brown waves that cascaded down to her mid-back.

Barbra spotted her friend Casey from drama club and decided to head over to her.

She turned to tell Lydia that she was going, only to find that Lydia was nowhere in sight.

****GLEE****

Lydia knew she looked out of place, being surrounded by a group of grungy-looking stoners.

She looked prim-and-proper compared to the others, wearing her lilac dress and heels, with bulky bracelets and purple hoops to match.

Lydia looked too innocent to be under the bleachers, standing at five feet and three inches with a petite figure, a round-shaped face and an ivory complexion which contrasted with her dark chocolate tresses that fell down to her waist, and made her large, dark brown eyes stand out against the fair skin of her face.

She didn't go there often, but it was the first day of school and there was her glee club audition to worry about.

Lydia was relaxed by nature, but in that moment she needed _something_ to help her relax. And she knew where she'd get that from.

"Hey, Drew," Lydia greeted Andrew Michaels casually.

"What's up?" Drew asked, visibly light-headed.

Drew held up some type of cannabis. "Want?"

Lydia hesitated. She'd done it before, and doing it _again_ wouldn't hurt.

"Yes," she said softly, almost embarrassed.

Lydia took a seat on the ground between two stoners who she didn't recognize.

She knew that doing drugs was bad, but it wasn't like she was addicted or anything.

And she wasn't going to spend that much time under the bleachers, so she was sure that her father or sister would _never_ find out.

Maybe it was just a phase, but for now, marijuana was definitely what helped Lydia to stay relaxed.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Auditions**

**_A/N #1: I'm really looking forward to the next chapter. I'm going to have a Bella throw her first high school party, and I really want things to get a little crazy. I don't know, maybe it's too soon for a party, but I think it'll be fun to write about. So let me know what your OCs will act like at the party, keeping in mind that Bella will be throwing it? Will they get drunk? Let me know! And tell me which 5 OCs you'd most want to see make out with somebody at the party._**

**_A/N #2: I tried writing Holly into this chapter, but I was no good at writing her! When I'm better at writing these characters, I'll bring her in, but as of now, she'll just be mentioned._**

**_A/N #3: Looks like most people got their own OC in that quiz. I'm actually kind of surprised, since in my other SYOC pretty much nobody had gotten their own OC._**

**_A/N #4: As much as I don't want anybody to feel bad about their characters, I would really like to know who your guys' least favorite OC in this story is, for writing purposes. I just want to know which characters I'm writing in a less likable way. _**

****GLEE****

Noah Puckerman stepped out of Principal Holly Holiday's office, clutching the key to the choir room in his left hand.

It had felt weird for him to be back in that office after so many years. Puck wasn't even sure if he'd ever been to that very office for something other than to receive some form of punishment.

But, he felt pretty good leaving the office, and he was going to head to the choir room right away.

Puck would've walked straight into each of his daughters' classes just to irritate them - and check on them - had he known where they were at that moment, but he was too lazy to go looking for either Lydia or Barbra.

And besides, he was secretly too excited to not immediately restore Finn's and that old lady whose name he never even bothered to learn's plaques to their rightful places.

Puck practically ran to the choir room and unlocked the door as quickly as he could, almost letting the key slip through his fingers while he violently shoved it into the keyhole.

Right foot first, Puck took a slow step into that room. The room that had brought out the best in him, the room he'd created his greatest memories in, from pushing himself to graduate to meeting his brother for the first time.

He flipped the light switch, and as the room was suddenly enlightened, he drank in its beauty with a deep breath.

The computers were removed from the room a few months ago, during the previous school year, but Puck still needed to set up the chairs exactly where they used to be and bring in the piano and place it exactly where it should be, and then perfect his 'write a word on the whiteboard and then spin around and dramatically announce the theme of the week' to get it just the way Mr. Schue did it.

Puck sat down on the piano stool that was left in the middle of the choir room.

"It's like nothing's changed."

Puck jerked his head up as he heard a familiar female voice speak his thoughts aloud.

He shifted his torso in his to properly face his wife Rachel, who was standing in the doorway.

"I remember the first time we actually sang in this choir room," Rachel's voice echoed a little, as she began to walk into the room and look around. "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat."

Rachel laughed at the memory. "God, we were terrible!"

"What are you doing here?" Puck asked, standing up from his seat.

"I just wanted to see the choir room again, and to wish you luck," Rachel said. "I also brought you lunch. I know how hungry you get when you watch TV, so I figured if you were going to sit through _fourteen_ auditions, that-"

"Whoa!" Puck held up his hands in defense. "Are we actually holding auditions? I thought everyone agreed to just force their kids to join; can't we just skip to the first lesson?"

"Noah, this is just a formality," Rachel said slowly. "You can't just welcome them into glee club with open arms without an audition. I'm pretty sure it's against the rules."

Puck tilted his head to the right. "Have I ever played by the rules?"

"Seriously, Noah," Rachel spoke fairly sternly. "The girls have been rehearsing all summer, and I've talked to you about this a hundred times."

"I tune most things out," Puck shrugged, to which Rachel responded with a glare.

It was kind of intimidating, even for Puck, but somehow she still managed to look sexy.

"Fine," Puck groaned. "I'll hold the stupid auditions. You should probably come too, just in case I fall asleep or something."

"I've thought about that and as much as I would really, _really_ love to see our kids and all of our friends' kids sing, I have some errands to run."

Puck groaned. He really didn't want to sit through fourteen songs alone; he probably wasn't even going to pay attention.

"But," Rachel began to speak again, "I've got somebody else to come help you..."

Puck rolled his eyes. "If it's one of your Broadway friends-"

"Puck!"

Rachel grinned widely, and Puck's eyes darted from his wife's face to the figure standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Schue!"

Mr. Schue walked into the room and greeted Puck and Rachel with a big hug.

"I called Mr. Schue and asked if he could help you out with getting this glee club started and back on its feet again, so..." Rachel trailed off in her explanation.

"I can't believe glee club is back," Mr. Schue smiled, his eyes wondering around the choir room, and then settling on his former students. "How have you guys been doing?"

"We're doing great!" Puck answered excitedly. "How about you?"

"Yeah, how's Mrs. Schuester and Finn?" Rachel asked of Mr. Schue's wife and son.

"They're both doing great," their former teacher answered. "Finn's really enjoying college now that he's dropped out of psychology and studying teaching."

"That's wonderful," Rachel said. "Anyway, I should go. I'll leave you two to your catching up. Have fun!"

After pecking her husband and the cheek and giving Mr. Schue a quick hug, Rachel hurried out the door, giving one final wave.

Puck looked at Mr. Schue and the studied ecstatic look on the other man's face.

He was too lazy before to want to take over the glee club, but now Puck was excited. Just being given a chance to try to fill Mr. Schue's shoes was an honor, and maybe being a part of part of bringing back the magic that was glee club wouldn't be so bad after all.

****GLEE****

It was the first day of school and Chris seemed to be the only person who had come to his classes prepared.

He already knew pretty much everything about the Cold War, probably even more that his stupid History teacher knew, but somehow knowing things made you a loser.

It made no sense. Why was it that dumb kids who seemed to care about nothing but their reputations always considered the smarter kids inferior to them?

Chris, luckily for him, did not get picked on because he was friends with some of the jocks, but his nerd friends were always getting picked on by his jock friends. And when his nerd friends were hurt really bad by the bullying, they'd take it out on Chris for not helping them out.

Ethan Carlson, one of Chris' nerdy friends, was one of the few nerds at school who could throw insults back in the bullies' faces. He could actually make the bullies feel insecure, but it seemed as if nerdy bullies like Ethan were detested by other students while the jock bullies like Hunter Schmidt and Diego Gonzales were still worshipped by them.

It was definitely not even an option to try to create peace between the two groups, which just made things more difficult for Chris since he was part of both cliques.

But, he had other things to worry about, like school and his glee club audition.

Chris sat beside his sister in the auditorium, but he didn't really talk to her, because she was more preoccupied with cheerleading stuff, talking to Miya and Alyssa, though he really wanted to talk to somebody.

And it wasn't until Aiden Lopez-Pierce, Aly's little brother and his dads' friends' kid, had come along that he got a chance to talk, even if it was for only twenty seconds or so.

"How are you liking high school?" Chris asked the younger, taller boy while slouching in his seat and waiting for the auditions to begin.

"It's great!" Aiden beamed. "I've signed up for track and basketball, and I think I have a really good shot at making the team!"

This kid had confidence, and Chris liked that.

"Oh, hey," Aiden lowered his voice. "I think we're starting."

Chris looked up at the stage to see two men - one he recognized as his dads' friend Puck, and the other completely unfamiliar to him - standing on the stage.

Puck told the older man something, and the man raised a microphone to his lips and spoke. "Hey, guys. I am Mr. William Schuester, the former director of the New Directions."

Oh, so that's the famous Mr. Schue.

"I'm sure you've all heard great stories about glee club from your parents, so I'm really glad to see all of you here," Mr. Schue smiled. "Anyway, you're going to audition with piano accompaniment only, but I'm sure you all know that you're already a part of this club, and this auditions are merely part of the rules. An initiation, if you must."

A few people clapped a few times, and Chris wasn't one of them, while Puck left the stage and joined them in the audience and Mr. Schue sat down at the piano.

"Here we go," Aiden rubbed his hands together excitedly.

Chris breathed, wondering if he really _should_ audition. Sure, glee club was great for his dads and their friends but what if it turned out to be no more than a waste of time for Chris?

Either way, he wouldn't know unless he tried.

****GLEE****

Puck looked down at the list in front of him.

Rachel had organized the kids' names for him, listing them in alphabetical order and stating whose kid each of them were.

Puck had watched American Idol, and a couple of other singing shows, so this couldn't be that hard.

Puck read the first name on the list: '_Benjamin Abrams (Artie and Kitty's kid)'_.

"Benjamin Abrams," he called into his microphone.

Ben walked onto the stage, visibly nervous being the first one up, and took to the mic stand.

"What is your name?" Puck asked.

From what Puck could see, Ben looked confused. "Ben Abrams, like you just said."

"That's nice," Puck said in a monotone. "What do you for a living?"

Ben's face twisted into a further confusion. "I go to high school."

Some of the other students chuckled.

This American Idol thing didn't seem to be working too well. Puck decided to drop it.

"Just sing," Puck said, doing a movement motion with his hand.

"Shouldn't I tell him what song I'm singing?" Ben asked, tilting his head in Mr. Schue's direction.

"He'll know," Puck said flatly. "Telepathically."

After all, if Brad could play whatever song they'd had in their heads at the time then so could Mr. Schue.

Ben cleared his throat and stated his song choice anyway. "I'm going to be singing Pompeii by Bastille."

Mr. Schue played an acoustic introduction to the song, and Ben had began to sing.

"_I was left to my own devices. Many days fell away with nothing to show_," he sang, "_And the walls kept tumbling down, in the city that we love..._"

Puck drifted away for a moment, but from what he heard, this kid was very talented. It didn't matter though, since he would've made it into the glee club anyway.

Puck checked Ben's name on the list as he continued to sing.

"_But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?_" Ben continued to sing as Puck began to look around.

The other kids seemed to be enjoying the performance. Were glee club auditions always this fun for kids?

"_How am I gonna be an optimist about this? How am I gonna be an optimist about this?_" Ben was clearly more at ease the more he sang, and the song came to an end. "_If you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?_"

When the audition was over, the other students applauded Ben, but Puck wasn't sure as to what he was supposed to do.

Does he just call out the next name? Does he comment on their performances?

Puck leaned into the microphone and the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could gather his thoughts. "It was kinda pitchy, dog."

Ben looked a little bit offended, but Mr. Schue stood up quickly and said, "It wasn't pitchy, it was great. Go take a seat."

Mr. Schue turned to Puck and said, "Just say thank you, Puck."

Puck nodded, though it was a little embarrassing that his daughters and nieces and other kids who would probably _idolize_ him in a few weeks were there to watch that.

Puck cleared his throat. "Patrick Abrams."

A much larger-sized blonde boy took to the stage.

"I'm gonna be singing She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer," he said.

Puck nodded and listened to Patrick sing.

"_Simmer down, simmer down. They say we're too young to amount to anything else_," he began the originally upbeat song in a slower tempo. "_We work too damn hard for this just to give it up now_."

Puck quite enjoyed Patrick's performance, and checked his name off the list to show that he had auditioned.

"_Your lipstick stain is a work of art; I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart. And I know now, that I'm so down_."

Patrick finished the song with a bow, and Puck said, "Thank you."

Puck called the name of Miya Chang next, and she confidently re-introduced herself.

"I'm going to be singing How to Save a Life by The Fray," she said, and Mr. Schue began to play.

"_Step one, you say, 'We need to talk'. He walks, you say, 'Sit down. It's just a talk_'," Miya sang, and Puck was slightly taken aback.

How could somebody that small have a voice that big?

He shouldn't have been that surprised though. After all, his wife and his daughters were all small in size with big, powerful voices.

"_Some sort of window to your right. As he goes left and you stay right,_" she continued to sing, as Puck checked her name off the list. "_Between the lines of fear and blame. You begin to wonder why you came._"

Once again, Puck found himself drifting away for a large portion of the performance. As talented as these kids seemed to be, he wasn't sure how he was going to make it through eleven more auditions without falling asleep.

The Puckerman household was rarely ever completely silent. There was always somebody singing or blaring music from their stereo, and Puck had become accustomed to sleeping through the noise.

If anything, music made him want to sleep these days, unless he was the one making it.

"_And I would have stayed up with you all night_," Miya's audition was coming to an end. "_Had I known how to save a life; how to save a life_."

Groggily, Puck leaned into the microphone and said, "Thank you."

****GLEE****

Miya was feeling exceptionally great after her glee club audition.

She strolled over to her seat in between Aria and Aly, as Corey Evans took to the stage.

"That was awesome!" Aly grinned. "You totally rocked that song!"

"Yeah," Aria added, her voice a little lower than Aly's to keep from disturbing the silence in the auditorium. "The best so far."

"Thank you," Miya smiled, having to lean closer to Aria in order to be heard over Corey's singing.

"_For the way you changed my plans_," he sang. "_For being the perfect distraction..._"

Receiving a compliment from Aly was certainly not rare, but Aria didn't just shower anybody with praise. Being called "the best so far" by Aria was like Barack Obama telling you that you'd make a great president.

Sure, Aria was nice, but she was still honest. She didn't say things just to make other people feel good; she said what was true.

Miya leaned back in her seat and tried to enjoy Corey's audition.

"_You're the best thing I never knew I needed. So when you were here I had no idea_," she bobbed her head to the music. "_You're the best thing I never knew I needed. So now it's so clear, I need you here always."_

Miya applauded Corey's performance as the others did - though she didn't need to, since the boy had plenty of confidence anyway.

"James Evans," she heard Uncle Puck call.

He wasn't her real uncle, obviously, but she was used to calling him Uncle Puck since he was her godfather.

Miya felt her breath seize for a split-second as James stepped onto the stage.

He really was... _something_, and as embarrassing as it was, Miya didn't care that she acted like a total fangirl around him anyway. Besides, _every_ girl would probably act that way around him.

"_Now I'm in town, break it down, thinking of making a new sound. Playing a different show every night in front of a new crowd..._"

Miya couldn't tear her eyes away from the boy on the stage. James was relaxed and comfortable up there, and it only made him more appealing to Miya. She wasn't exactly sure as to when she had started to like him, and the fact that his mom was her godmother probably made things a little weird, but she had known him her entire life and almost overnight, she had formed the biggest crush on James. And that crush wasn't going anywhere.

"_See, I'm true, my songs are where my heart is. I'm like glue, I stick to other artists. I'm not you, now that would be disastrous. Let me sing and do my thing and move to greener pastures_."

As far as Miya was concerned, James considered her his little sister, so telling him how she felt was a definite no. She hadn't spoken a word about her crush to Aria or Aly, and the two girls were always the first people she'd talk to about anything, before making any kind of decision.

Miya was completely comfortable telling her friends about her crush, but she was afraid of how they might react. Miya had never had feelings for a guy who she'd known since she'd been born, a guy whose parents have been friends with her mom and dad since high school. She didn't want either of her friends to think she was weird for liking a guy who'd known her longer than he'd known his own brother.

"_You need me, man, I don't need you. You need me, man, I don't need you_," James sang. "_You need me, man, I don't need you at all. You need me, man, I don't need you_."

Miya smiled and applauded James' performance, and watched James walk off the stage and take his seat beside Patrick.

"Arianna Hummel-Anderson."

Arianna immediately stood up from her seat upon hearing her name being called.

"Have fun!" Miya wished her, as she headed on toward the stage.

Just then, Miya noticed that Ben Abrams and Bella Puckerman were sitting a few rows ahead of her and Aly, as well as Chris and Aiden who sat a few seats to Miya's left.

That very morning, both Miya and Aria were given the position as co-head Cheerios, and later that day, the two of them were in charge of cheer tryouts.

Bella had performed her routine exceptionally well, and although the list wasn't going to be put up until the next day, she was certainly going to make the team.

Miya liked Bella. She seemed incredibly sweet and innocent, but she appeared to be all marshmallows and butterflies and no fire and ice. Miya was pretty sure that Bella was fierce, deep down, and she knew that she and her friends could bring that out in Bella.

While Aria sang her song, Miya leaned over to Aly to whisper, "What do you think about making Bella one of us?"

Aly had her arms crossed over her chest and pulled a face, not tearing her eyes away from Aria.

"_This is a man's world_," Aria sang, flaunting her powerful voice. "_But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing, without a woman or a girl._"

"I don't know," Aly answered. "We're a trio."

"We could be a quartet," Miya said.

"I just don't know," Aly repeated. "I don't think Aria would want that."

Miya frowned at Aly's hesitation, and decided to pay attention to the rest of Aria's performance.

"_He's lost in the wilderness. He's lost in bitterness._"

****GLEE****

"What letter are we on? H? When are we gonna get to P? I just wanna audition already. I can't wait-"

"Shhh..."

Bella Puckerman tried to contain her excitement but obeyed Ben to listen to Chris' audition.

"_Some days it's tough just gettin' up_," Chris sang. "_Throwin' on these boots and makin' that climb._"

"Bella!"

Both Bella and Ben turned around to see Miya shooing them - or possibly only Bella - over.

"Are they calling us?" Bella asked Ben, pointing in the direction of Miya and her friends.

Ben shrugged. "Maybe we should go over there then, if that's what they want."

"Really?" Bella's eyebrows perked up. "Do you really think they want me over there?"

"Sure," Ben shrugged again and stood up. "Come on, Aiden's over there."

Bella hesitated, but decided to join the other group. She stood up and walked down the row, with Ben following her.

"_But when she says baby_," Chris sang. "_Oh, no matter what comes ain't goin' nowhere she runs her fingers through my hair and saves me._"

Bella felt a little guilty for moving around during Chris' performance, hoping that she and Ben hadn't distracted him in any way.

She'd approached Miya, Aria, Aly and Aiden with a big smile on her face. "Hey!"

"Hey, guys!" Aiden greeted upon seeing his two best friends.

He moved a few seats down. "Have a seat!"

Ben moved past Bella to sit beside Aiden, while Aria tapped the seat beside her. "Have a seat. We won't bite."

"You don't have to sit down if you don't want to," Alyssa added quickly, wearing a sort of irritated smile.

Bella wasn't sure what Aly's problem was, but she could tell from cheerleading tryouts earlier that Alyssa just didn't seem to like her.

Bella wasn't a big fan of Aly either. From what Bella knew, Aly was the school's resident slut, and Bella didn't want to be influenced by somebody like that.

"_Oh when she says baby. Yeah that look in her eyes got me comin' alive and drivin' me a good kinda crazy._"

Bella sat down as Chris' audition came to an end, and joined the others in applause, still wondering why she was called over by the three most popular girls in school.

Aiden's name was called next, and as he brushed past Ben and then Bella, they both wished him good luck.

"So, Bella," Miya leaned over Aria to talk to Bella. "You were really good at tryouts. We actually wanted to know if you maybe wanted some people to show you the ropes on how things work in his school."

"Yeah," Aria chimed in. "We thought that maybe we could take you under our wing."

Bella was taken aback by the offer. In middle school, she quite didn't fit in no matter how hard she'd tried, but on the first day of high school, the two head cheerleaders were inviting her to hang out with them. This was all too weird.

Bella shifted her attention towards Aiden.

"_I'll get it if you need it. I'll search if you don't see it. You're thirsty, I'll be rain. You get hurt, I'll take your pain."_

She turned to Aria again and asked, "What about my friends?"

"Relax," Aria chuckled. "We're not going to make you abandon your friends."

"Yeah, your friends are our friends anyway," Miya added, leaning over Aria again.

"Guys," Bella heard Aly's voice coming from her right. "Don't force her to do what she doesn't want to do."

Bella frowned. It was almost like Aly was trying to get rid of her, and it kind of reminded Bella of the way Jordan had always treated her, like she was some kind of pest.

"So, do you wanna hang out with us after school?" Aria asked, breaking into Bella's thoughts.

"_When you heard what I told you. When you get worried I'll be your soldier._"

As Aiden finished up his audition, Bella ignored Aly's groan and said, "Yes."

"Awesome," Miya said, as she and Aria smiled at each other.

Alyssa didn't say anything, and Bella watched her stiffly walk away and onto the stage for her audition.

****GLEE****

"I'm going to be singing Be Alright by Justin Bieber," Aly spoke into the microphone.

Lydia was a little surprised by Aly's song choice, but the song wasn't what had concerned Lydia about Aly.

Her shoulders were a little hunched, her head slightly bowed and her arms crossed over her chest, and Lydia could tell that something was bothering Aly.

Maybe they didn't interact much at school, but due to the close relationship between their parents, Lydia and Aly had spent a lot of time together growing up, and they _were_ kind of friends.

So naturally, Lydia was a little worried about Aly, when she'd seen her appearing irritable and nervous, when she usually was the most outgoing, cheerful person on the planet.

_"I know it's hard, babe, to sleep at night. Don't you worr_y," Aly sang, visibly opening up more, "'_cause everything's gonna be alright, ai-ai-ai-aight_."

She was probably forgetting about whatever it was that was bothering her, lowering her arms and flailing them around casually, a smile forming on her face, and she was even starting to dance a little.

"_Through the sorrow, and the fights, don't you worry 'cause everything's gonna be alright._"

Aly gave a small bow and smile, and Lydia noticed that when she was just about to leave the stage and head back to her original seat, she stopped herself, hesitated, and took the seat beside Lydia instead.

"Hey," Aly whispered, as Lydia's dad called out the next name.

"Hey," Lydia greeted in response, her eyes still locked on the stage.

It was Lucas' turn to audition, and Lydia noticed a very absent look on his face and a relaxed body. It was like he wasn't mentally present.

"_Ooh, girl, you're shinin', like a fifth avenue diamond. And they don't make you like they used to..._"

From what she could tell, he was so relaxed that it looked unnatural. It was like Lucas wanted people to think that, in _that_ moment at least, he could not care less about where he was and what he was doing.

Lydia was too observant to buy it; Luke was totally having fun up there.

She chuckled and leaned over to Aly. "The way this guy is trying so freakin' hard to keep his body language relaxed when he's obviously kind of nervous and really enjoying himself..."

Lydia's voice trailed off when she suddenly realized that Aly didn't even _try_ to strike up a conversation with her. Something _had_ to be wrong.

Aly loved to talk, and she was only ever _really_ quiet when something was upsetting her. Of course, she couldn't keep quiet for too long and sooner or later, her feelings would come out.

Aly didn't really keep things in, but when she did, they eventually came out in the craziest, biggest ways.

Lydia wasn't sure whether she should ask Aly about how she was feeling or not. She didn't want to force anything out of her, and Lydia wasn't really in the mood to talk - unless of course, she'd made another ingenious observation.

"How do you know these stuff?" Aly spoke up, slouching a little. "Like, how can you tell how a person is feeling just by looking at them?"

"I'm a genius, obviously," Lydia smirked to herself, and she heard Aly let out a soft chuckle.

Since Aly was talking, whatever had been bothering her mustn't have been _that_ big of a deal.

Both girls were still watching Lucas' audition. Now he seemed genuinely nonchalant, to Lydia.

"_One of a kind. Livin' in a world gone plastic, baby you're so classic_."

"Seriously, though?" Aly asked. "Don't you get bored watching instead of... participating?"

Lydia hadn't really thought about it before, but she shook her head in response. "No, not really."

Lucas had left the stage and Puck called out the next name.

"Annabella."

_Finally_, he'd gotten to the Puckermans.

From the corner of her eye, Lydia noticed Aly's spine stiffen as Bella walked onto the stage.

She concluded that either A) Aly had suddenly thought of what was upsetting her and was grouchy again, or B) that Bella was, in some way, a part of Aly's problem.

And based on the daggers that Aly was shooting Bella, Lydia was leaning heavily towards the latter.

"_No matter how hard I try, you keep pushing me aside_," Bella began her acoustic cover of Cher's Believe. "_And I can't break through. There's no talking to you._"

"Are you alright?" Lydia asked Alyssa. "You're kind of looking at my cousin like she's Satan's spawn or something."

Aly hesitated and then shook her head. "It's nothing. I was just thinking."

"About what?" Lydia asked curiously, watching Aly.

Aly began to comb her fingers through her short waves of hair, which she only ever did when she was angry or irritable.

It wasn't that Lydia _wanted_ to anger or annoy Aly. She just genuinely wanted to help her out with her problem.

"I'm not really having the best first day of school, that's all."

Well, that was a start.

"_Do you believe in life after love_," Bella sang. "_I can feel something inside me say 'I really don't think you're strong enough now'..._"

Lydia clapped after Bella had bowed her head, but she noticed that Aly didn't.

There was definitely some tension between these two, especially on Aly's side.

"Barbie."

Lydia chuckled, as did many other people.

She trusted her dad to call Barbra by her home nickname at school.

But Barbra was too proud to let that get her down. Lydia watched her sister strut onto the stage with her head held high and dramatically take a deep breath.

She was going to sing a big song, Lydia just knew it.

"She's gonna do Beyoncé or Celine or Mariah," Lydia told Aly. "Can you see the way she's making eye contact with each and every person here? She _wants_ us to know that she's about to blow us away."

"I'm going to be singing Listen from Dreamgirls," Barbra stated, finishing off her sentence with the biggest smile.

Lydia smirked to herself.

"Wow," Aly breathed. "You really _are_ a genius."

Lydia had heard Barbra sing Listen at least a million times in her life, so naturally she zoned out.

She was suddenly tempted to Google how the hell a snake is able to swallow an entire egg when they're so skinny and their mouths are so tiny, but she decided not to pull out her cell phone during Barbra's audition, just to keep Babs from flipping out at her later for not paying attention.

"So, you're next?" Aly checked.

Lydia thought for a moment and said, "No, I'm pretty sure that J comes before L."

"What?" Lydia didn't even have to look at Aly in order to know that her eyebrows were furrowed, her nose scrunched up and her lips were curled into a goofy smile out of her confusion.

"My mom organized the list into alphabetical order, so that means that Jordan's up next and I'm last because J comes before L in the alphabet," Lydia explained.

Aly laughed a little. "Right. I kind of have to mentally sing the alphabet song every time I wanna know where a letter is, so..."

Lydia chuckled, and both she and Aly shifted focus to Barbra once again.

"_Now I'm done believing you. You don't know what I'm feeling. I'm more than what you made of me; I followed the voice you gave to me. But now I gotta find my own... My own..._"

Barbra's bow was clearly very rehearsed, as well as her faux blushing at the round of applause she'd received.

Lydia had to admit that what she'd just heard was pretty stellar, even if Barbra was a big drama Queen who annoyed her to no end.

"Jordan."

Lydia groaned. She just wanted to audition already, and she was tired of sitting there and waiting.

"_What's it gonna be? Are you willingly walking away from this?_" Jordan began. "_What's it gonna take? Can you really break this love?_"

There was nothing about Jordan that Lydia could really analyze.

Knowing her cousin, she'd probably just picked a random song at the last minute, so there was no meaning behind what she was singing.

Lydia began to look around.

Barbra was sitting alone, but she didn't seem all too bothered by it. Lydia wondered why Bella wasn't sitting with her, since it was Bella's first day of high school and naturally she'd cling to somebody she's used to be around and is close to.

She was probably with Aiden and Ben, then.

"'_Cause if you leave, baby then leave. Make up your mind before you shut the door._"

How was it that the audition before Lydia's seemed to drag out the most?

She spotted Bella to her very far right, a few rows down, talking to Aria and Miya.

That was very strange.

Maybe Aly was feeling like Aria and Miya were replacing her with Bella.

Sure, Lydia's theory may have made Aly seem like a childish, whiny bitch but it was all she could come up with.

It was then that she realized that Aly had stopped talking again.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lydia whispered.

"Yeah," Aly snorted, shrugging. "I'm just really into these auditions."

Lydia nodded, but she didn't buy it.

Maybe Aly was pregnant? Maybe she was afraid that her moms would find out and they'd freak out?

Maybe she was drunk. Maybe she was on her period. Maybe she was questioning her sexuality. Maybe she'd been molested or abused by somebody. Maybe she was being stalked. Maybe she was being bullied. Maybe she had an eating disorder. Maybe she murdered somebody.

"_OW_!" Lydia exclaimed as Aly nudged her in the ribs.

"You're up," Aly hissed.

Lydia suddenly realized that she'd zoned out again, and she slowly stood up and walked onto the stage.

It was really weird, what with her dad sitting there, acting like he was just a teacher to her.

She smiled, took a deep breath and said into the microphone, "I'm going to be singing Reflection by Christina Aguilera."

She nodded at Mr. Schue, and the older man began to play the introduction to the song.

Lydia closed her eyes and began to sing. "_Look at me. You may think you see. Who I really am. But you'll never know me._"

"_Every day, it's as if I play a part. Now I see,_" she opened her eyes. "_If I wear a mask I can fool the world, but I cannot fool my heart._"

Lydia could certainly get used to this, standing on stage with all eyes on her. Maybe she wouldn't be standing behind a microphone, but she could certainly enjoy being appreciated for her talent.

Lydia was a big dreamer, and she dreamed of winning an Academy Award some day.

"_Why is my reflection someone I don't know?_" Lydia continued. "_Must I pretend that I'm someone else for all time? When will my reflection show who I am inside?_"

As the small audience half-heartedly applauded her performance, Lydia gave a small bow and left the stage.

While she was returning to her seat, she heard her dad's voice talking into his microphone.

"That is the end of auditions."

He sounded very bored and rehearsed.

"The list will be up tomorrow. Our first real glee club meeting will happen next week."


	5. Chapter 4 part 1

**Chapter 4: The Party Never Ends (Well) part 1**

**_A/N #1: I am so sorry for the long wait! I really am! I've been busy but hopefully I will update more quickly in the near future._**

**_A/N #2: As you can see, I've changed my pen name. Just thought I should point it out, just in case somebody goes looking for DisneyPrincessXO._**

**_A/N #3: A shout-out to DauntlessInDistrict9 and SunlightHurtsMyEyes for giving me awesome ideas for this chapter (though I think those ideas only come up in_****_ the second half) Thank you!_**

**_A/N #4: I'd split this chapter into two due to its lengthiness. I'll get to editing and posting the second half ASAP._**

**_A/N #5: You are welcome to change any of your votes after reading this chapter. If you change your votes AFTER reading part 2, that will be the last time you're allowed to re-vote._**

**_A/N #6: I'm sorry for the billionth note, but I'd just like to point out that by the end of part 2, we would have seen everybody's point of view at some point except for Jordan's, which I had done intentionally. In chapter one, the first scene began in Patrick's POV and ended in Ben's, we'd then seen a little bit of Aria's and Chris' POVs, the Jarley kids scene was from Marley's perspective, and the chapter had ended in Miya's POV. Chapter two was from Luke's, James', Aiden's, Barbra's and Lydia's POVs respectively, with chapter three being in Puck's, Chris', Puck's again, Miya's, Bella'sand Lydia's POVs. In part 1 of this chapter, we see Jake's, Bella's, Aly's, Lydia's, Aiden's and Ben's POVs, and in the next part we'll see Corey's, Aria's, Chris', James', Luke's and Bella's again, though I'm not too sure about the order of that. I was going to give you guys my reasoning behind it, but I'm sure you all just wanna get to the story already, so if you wanna know, just ask. _**

****GLEE****

Jake wasn't sure about letting Bella throw her first high school party.

While Jake wasn't exactly the outgoing, party animal type of guy, he knew better than anybody - except for Puck, of course - how teenage boys acted at parties.

But Marley had reminded him a thousand times over that these weren't just _any_ teenage boys; they were his friends' kids, and they were all, _apparently_, respectable young men.

Jake and Marley had just arrived at Puck and Rachel's for a party, which Rachel had planned in order to celebrate the rebirth of the New Directions. It was Rachel who suggested that the kids throw a party of their own since neither of Jake's nieces wanted to spend their Saturday night hanging out with their parents' friends, and Bella had immediately jumped at the opportunity to host her very first teen party.

Jake, after being convinced by Marley that the party would be a good opportunity for Bella to mingle and really get to know the others, had agreed to the party, just as long as the partygoers would consist of glee kids only.

"Jake! Marley!" Puck smiled upon seeing his brother and sister-in-law on his doorstep. "Come on in!"

Marley handed Puck a homemade banana cream pie as they walked into the grand entrance of the other Puckermans' luxurious home, and Puck led them out into the large backyard that late afternoon.

"Hey, guys!" Marley waved, as the couple received greetings from the others.

Apart from Rachel and Puck, and Jake and Marley themselves, the Evans, the Changs, the Lopez-Pierces, Mr. Schue and Ryder were all there, with Kurt and Blaine, and Kitty and Artie still to arrive.

"Is Unique coming?" Mercedes asked, as Marley took a seat beside her.

Marley shook her head. "She'd have loved to but she can't tear herself away from recording."

"That's too bad," Rachel pouted, sitting opposite the other two women. "I wish Quinn could have been here as well, but there's no way she's going to take a break from her vacation in Paris for some silly party."

"This is not silly," Mr. Schue joined in the conversation. "We're celebrating the renewal of something very important to us, and I'm sure Quinn wishes she was here too."

"You know," Santana swished her red wine within its glass. "When glee club ended, I thought that it was forever. I wasn't happy about it, but I didn't think I'd be this excited that it's back."

"I think it's wonderful that our kids will finally get to have the same glee club experience as we did," Tina spoke up, with Mike nodding in agreement as she talked.

"Yeah, but without all the lying and the fighting and the cheating," Puck added.

The doorbell rang, and Rachel left her chair to get the door.

"How are all of you guys?" Mr. Schue asked, while Rachel's distant cheer could be heard from inside the house. "How are your kids?"

"They're not math geniuses or anything," Brittany began in a monotone, "but they're pretty awesome. This morning Aly taught me how to count backwards from one hundred, in twos."

"That is awesome!" Sam fist-pumped.

"Well," Ryder chimed. "I've been doing pretty okay for a guy whose marriage crashed and burned before he'd even gotten married."

"Did she leave you because you dress like a fifty-year-old toddler?" Santana asked Ryder, taking a sip of her drink, as Ryder crossed his arms tightly over his bright, skintight multicolored shirt, "because I'm tired of having to put my shades on whenever you're around."

"Hey, everyone!" came Blaine's voice, as Rachel had led him and Kurt outside.

"_Now_ the party started," Sam cheered, standing up from his seat to greet the two men.

"Sorry we're late," Kurt said. "There was a slight wardrobe malfunction."

"Having trouble deciding what to wear is _not_ a malfunction," Mercedes told Kurt with a raised eyebrow and playful smirk.

Jake chuckled, as did the others, but he couldn't help but wonder when the group's jokes became so... _old_. When did _they_ become so old?

"Where are Artie and Kitty?" Mike asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Artie said they'd be late because Kitty had to work almost all day today," Rachel explained, moving around several platters on the table. "It must be horrible being a lawyer."

"Kitty's probably kicking ass at it," Ryder shrugged, earning a chorus of "Yeah!"s and "Of course!"s.

Jake checked his watched.

He'd only been at his brother's house for ten minutes and he was already worrying about what was going down at home.

Marley must have noticed how worried he was, placing a hand on his shaking leg and leaning towards him while the others carried on with their conversation.

"Are you okay?" she asked with concerned. "You look like a murder suspect on trial; what is going on with you?"

"We left our teenage daughters alone at home to throw a party that horny teen boys would be attending," Jake said slowly, as if he were explaining something really obvious to a ten-year-old.

"Relax," Marley rolled her eyes. "Bella's too much of a goody-two-shoes to do anything you don't want her to, and Jordan hates people anyway."

The doorbell rang, and Rachel gasped dramatically again and rushed back inside the house to welcome Artie and Kitty to the party.

Jake let out a small breath. It was definitely a reassuring reminder, but there was definitely still a possibility of something - anything - bad happening.

Jake simply nodded and tried to focus on the conversation his friends were having, his mind still on what could happen at his house that night.

****GLEE****

Lydia and Barbra had arrived to the party exactly twenty-seven minutes early. They should have been there an hour early, as Bella had requested, but the time had slipped away from Lydia, being off in her own world, as well as from Barbra, who had gone through her entire closet before finally settling on an outfit.

"Why are you guys so late?" Bella asked. "I wanted you to help me choose an outfit."

"Sorry," Lydia said. "But you didn't need our help. You look great."

Bella smoothed out the bottom of her dress. "Thank you."

"Except the shoes," Barbra added, pointing to Bella's pink heels. "They're tacky. Hideous."

Bella frowned at her feet but decided to change her shoes.

Sure, Barbra was rude sometimes but she was the most honest person Bella knew, and Bella valued her opinion. Besides, Barbra had a great fashion sense. Every time Bella saw her she looked even more radiant. Wearing a baby blue crop top and white skinny jeans, which revealed her belly ring and the Star of David tattoo around her belly button, Barbra looked flawless.

Lydia had somehow managed to keep up with her sister in the looks department, despite not being quite as glamorous as Barbra and having a similar fashion sense to little old Bella herself. Maybe it was in their genes, to look stunning even at their worst, and Bella sort of wished she was like her cousins in that sense. Being "cute" wasn't what Bella, as a teenager and high school student, wanted to be described as.

"So, where's Jordan?" Lydia asked, running a hand through her hair.

"In the dining room, writing an article," Bella answered, tilting her head in the direction of the dining room. "Mom and dad said she can't spend all night in her room, so..."

Her voice trailed off as she drifted towards the kitchen in an ethereal, flighty manner.

She saw Lydia head into the dining room, probably to hang out with Jordan.

Bella, or Babs for that matter, never really understood Lydia and Jordan's relationship. Whenever both Puckerman families would get together, Lydia and Jordan would spend more time together, while Bella mostly hung out with Barbra. Bella wasn't sure why, but Lydia and Jordan never really talked when they hung out. They kind of just... sat there, but Bella assumed it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable for either of them, since both Lydia and Jordan were naturally quiet.

"So, do you think I'm gonna have enough snacks for the party?" Bella asked. "I mean, teenagers like to eat a lot, right? And they like candy, right? We've got tons of stuff and I don't want it to go to waste, and I really want everybody to be happy and-"

"Oh my God," Barbra interrupted Bella, looking around the kitchen to see countless jars of candy, as if she were in some kind of sugar heaven. "There's enough candy in here to feed Africa. It literally feels like I'm in Willy Wonka's factory."

"Really?" Bella asked, the excitement finally beginning to build inside of her. "Then they're going to have a great time, aren't they?"

"Not that it's _my_ thing," Barbra began, "but I'm pretty sure most of these kids are only capable of having fun if there's alcohol involved."

Bella furrowed her eyebrows in a pout. There was no way anybody would be getting drunk at her party, and she'd make sure of it.

She was surprised, however, that it was Barbra, of all people, who had brought up that very idea, though she did understand that Babs was by no means suggesting that _she_, somehow, have alcohol at her party.

Bella took a deep breath and mentally reminded herself to be the bubbly, happy Bella she usually was. Like her mom had said, she'd have anybody won over if she just stayed true to herself.

The doorbell rang and Bella excitedly headed over to welcome her first guests, with. Barbra following closely behind.

Bella hoped that it was Patrick and Ben standing behind the door, because Ben was her best friend, and she quite liked Patrick. Aiden was her best friend as well, perhaps even closer to her than Ben was, but with Aiden would come Ayssa, and Alyssa didn't really seem to like Bella, from what Bella could tell.

Bella didn't let that get her down though. She didn't like Alyssa either. They'd known each other for pretty much their entire lives, but had never really talked to each other. Even if she did, it wouldn't change Aly's bad reputation, and Bella disliked what she knew about Aly just as much as it seemed Aly disliked what she knew about Bella.

It was James and Corey who had arrived first, excluding Bella's cousins. Bella was okay with that, since James was pretty nice to her, and she was pretty sure that Corey was tolerable, even though she knew that Ben hated him.

Bella was also pretty nervous about being around James, since she'd heard from Ben, who'd overheard Miya and Aria's conversation that week at lunch, that Miya had a huge crush on James and she knew from Ben that Patrick had a huge crush on Miya but Patrick hadn't told anybody but Ben and Ben definitely didn't want his brother to know about Miya's feelings for James.

And Bella was known to babble, so she had to be really careful not to let the gossip slip out of her uncontrollable mouth.

"Hey, guys! It's so good to see you both!" Bella smiled. "I am so excited for tonight. This is gonna be so much fun-"

Bella was interrupted by the sound of Barbra clearing her throat.

"Welcome!" Barbra smiled.

"Hey, guys!" James smiled, entering the house.

Corey followed, loudly declaring, "I've arrived! Now the party can officially begin!"

Bella was grateful that Barbra had interrupted her before she could babble too much, but before she knew it, she was babbling again.

"I'm so glad you guys came. I thought that since I'm a freshman everybody would be like 'I'm sure somebody cooler is having a better party' and stuff - well, except Jordan because, you know, she's my sister and all so she kind of _has_ be here even though she really doesn't want to, and also Lyds and Babs because they're my cousins and you guys already know that-"

Barbra cleared her throat to interrupt Bella once again.

"You both look great," James smiled. He looked around, a little awkwardly, and Bella assumed that he was feeling a little out of place.

"Whoa," Bella heard Barbra say. "Corey, did you _have_ to wear those pants? I feel like I'm going to have a seizure just looking at them."

"Yeah, but I can totally pull them off, right?" Corey smirked at Barbra.

Bella rolled her eyes, but Barbra seemed impressed. Barbra never saw cockiness as a bad thing.

"Nice shoes, Bella," Corey gave her a thumbs up.

Bella glanced down at her "tacky" pink shoes, unsure whether Corey was being sarcastic or not, and realized that she forgot to change them.

With only five guests at Bella's party, excluding Bella herself - and not to mention, three of them were related to her - she knew that this could get awkward pretty quickly.

"Barbie, can you go get Jordan and Lydia?" Bella asked, swaying on her feet awkwardly. She opened her mouth to break the few seconds of awkward silence but was interrupted by the sound of Barbra's yelling.

"LYDIA! JORDAN!" she yelled so loud that it made Bella jump, and seemed to surprise the Evans brothers as well. "STOP BEING SNOBS AND GET OVER HERE! WE HAVE GUESTS!"

Barbra flashed a polite smile at James and Corey, and Bella decided to speak up again, this time being interrupted by Corey.

"If you don't mind," he began, casually sliding his black backpack off of his shoulder and down his arm, "I brought some-"

"Oh no," Bella groaned, realizing exactly what kind of glass bottle Corey was retrieving from his backpack. "Is that alcohol? I promised my parents that there wouldn't be alcohol at this party, so you really have to go leave that in the car. Besides, we have tons of candy and-"

"Candy? Where?" Corey's face lit up, and before Bella could answer Corey had shoved his backpack into James' arms and sprinted towards the kitchen, almost running into Lydia and Jordan on the way there.

"Uh, hi," Lydia said shyly as she and Jordan walked further into the entrance hall.

It was weird for Bella; she'd never seen her cousin shy before, but she couldn't help but focus more on the fact that Jordan was too busy scribbling something down on her notepad to even look up.

"Bella, you know you don't have to drink if you don't want to," James began, as Bella turned to look up at him, "but a lot of the people who are coming are gonna wanna drink. I mean, I'm not gonna get drunk because I've gotta drive me and Corey home, and Corey doesn't _need_ alcohol to loosen up, but some of the others might think that this party is a big snooze-fest."

James gave a calm shrug while Bella stared at him, worried.

"I'm just trying to save your party," he said.

"He's right," Barbra spoke up, surprising Bella. "You've got no music, no alcohol. This is a party for teenagers and you don't want them to regret that they came."

Bella sighed. "Fine. And yes, music. I forgot to turn that on. I'll go-"

"I'll go," Jordan volunteered, a little too quickly and eagerly.

"Okay," Bella nodded. "My playlist is in the stereo."

As Jordan left the room and Lydia moved closer to Bella and Barbra, chewing nervously on her nails for some reason, Bella felt the excitement start to snowball inside of her again.

"Maybe we should all head outside or the the living room," Barbra offered. "Sing some karaoke..."

Bella heard the doorbell ring, and James, being closest to the widow peered out and announced, "It's Aly and Aiden."

Bella was glad that Aiden had arrived, but she wasn't sure about having to deal with Aly. She'd be civil, she decided. It wasn't going to be difficult.

Bella opened the door with the biggest smile and said, "Hey!"

"Hey, Bells!" Aiden exclaimed, pulling Bella into a big hug.

Bella watched as Aly walked around them, to greet James, Lydia and Barbra, and she heard Rather Be by Clean Bandit begin to blast.

"So, are you excited?" Aiden asked. "Your first high school party... What are we even supposed to do? Stand around and drink?"

"I don't know," Bella shrugged. "Talk, dance, play games?"

Bella suddenly gasped as she remembered what she'd heard earlier that day.

"What?" Aiden grinned.

"Did you hear?" Bella asked. "Did Ben or Aly tell you?"

Aiden's eyes widened, as did his smile. "Tell me what?"

Bella tugged Aiden's arm in order to lead him away from the others, as Corey re-entered the room yelling something about his arrival.

"Apparently Miya likes James," Bella whispered. "Like a lot."

"So?" the blonde-haired boy shrugged.

"Ben told me that Patrick likes Miya," Bella replied.

"Oh, I get it," Aiden sighed. "This is gossip."

Bella crossed her arms defensively, but based on Aiden's smirk, gossip couldn't be a bad thing. Besides, everybody does it.

"Hey, Bella," Aly suddenly approached the pair, wearing a warm but faux smile. Clearly, Aly was playing civil too.

"Hi!" Bella replied.

Aly turned to face Aiden and said, "Okay, look, there's alcohol here and if you want to drink, I'm not going to stop you but if you feel even a little tipsy then come straight to me. Also, Corey says there's a ton of candy here and you're only allowed to have a few pieces - you took your insulin shot, right?"

Bella watched as Aly began to fix Aiden's hair, and Aiden jerked backwards and said, "Aly, stop it."

He looked at Bella awkwardly and then back at Aly as he continued. "Yes, I took my shot, and could you please stop smothering me?"

Bella stood there, awkwardly swaying on her feet, as Aly paused and then innocently said, "Fine. If you want me to stop caring about you then that's exactly what I'll do."

Bella flinched.

There was now an official, real reason - besides Aly's reputation, of course - for her not to like Aly: she was passive-aggressive. Bella was certainly not a fan of passive-aggressive people.

"Why didn't you tell me about Miya's crush on James?" Aiden asked Aly, grinning again. "You usually give me the dish of the day-"

"What are you talking about?" Aly asked. "Miya doesn't have a crush on James. She would have told me."

"Well, she told Aria," Bella interjected, though she immediately regretted it when she'd seen the disappointed glare that Aly was watching her with.

"_You_ knew about this?" Aly asked her. "I mean, if it's true, which it's probably not."

Aiden cleared his throat. "Didn't Miya tell you, Aly?"

Aly swallowed and then said, "Yeah, she did. I remember now."

The doorbell rang, saving Bella from a potentially awkward moment, and she basically sprinted - like, four steps - to the front door.

"Luke! I'm so glad you could make it!" Bella smiled, feeling herself bounce up and down - the energy inside of her was accelerating as she finally realized that the party was about to start. "Now, I know this is probably not how _your_ people like to party but-"

"My people?"

"There's alcohol here, if you want," she continued, ignoring his question. "Oh, and if you go upstairs, just remember that there's nothing that's worth stealing or anything."

Bella finished her babble with a polite smile, and saw Luke glaring back at her.

The party had just started, and there were already two people who looked like they wanted to kill her.

Bella was in for a long night.

****GLEE****

Aly had never really fitted in with the others, especially with her friends.

She was always a little different to the other Cheerios and jocks and populars. She'd never really had their fire or their ability to draw you in, make you fall in love with them.

Aria had that, and Miya had that.

Aly, on the other hand, didn't.

Aly was definitely not the highly respected and universally loved girl that everybody wanted to be. She was the school's slut, so everybody looked at her as if they were disgusted by her.

The rumors, however, were not entirely true.

Aly was still a virgin, and a helpless romantic. She was the kind of person who believed in finding The One and being with _that_ one forever and always, just knowing that you're perfect for each other and meant to be together and no matter how many times you'd argue or disagree or get mad at each other, you'd still love each other unconditionally, because that's what love was. And Aly _loved_ love.

Aly had done _things_ before though, because _things_ were fun. Her bad reputation was Aly's own doing anyway, because she'd often found herself getting too carried away in what was fun.

It was easy to act as if you really didn't care about what others thought of you, but Aly really, really did. She was the girl who desperately wanted everybody's approval, and she'd go out of her way to earn it.

Aly knew that she didn't have the personality that the other popular kids had, and this had always bothered her. She didn't have the fire that they'd had; she was weak, and they all knew she was weak, but nobody'd ever said it aloud.

Bella, however, seemed to have that fire. There was something inside of Bella that seemed to burn bright, which was probably why Aria and Miya adored the younger girl.

When Aria and Miya - and now Bella - were around, Aly would always be completed invisible, or just a prop, or completely repulsive. The other girls shone so bright that their light could reflect off of others and Aly would be left to bask in the shine that wasn't her own. Even her baby brother Aiden was not disliked by anybody, which only made Aly feel more insecure.

As long as she was being honest with herself, Aly kind of enjoyed reflecting her friends' light, but with Bella at her school, her time as part of the most popular and respected trio in all of McKinley was running out. Bella's personality was much better suited to be a part of that trio, and she was much better liked than Aly was. Aly knew it, and she was sure that Aria and Miya knew it as well.

Aly really did care about her friends, but they upped her self-worth more than anything. If she didn't have them, then was she really worth anything?

Aly had not-so-cleverly been avoiding Aria and Miya all night out of hurt that Bella had known about Miya's secret crush on James before she did.

"I thought it was better than the original," Aly said of the remake of Twilight, which she'd seen over the summer. "I kind of liked Kristen Stewart as Esme Cullen and I liked that Bella was black this time."

"The acting was all the same, the dialogue, everything," Patrick shrugged, slouching in his seat beside her on the sofa. "It was super boring."

"It wasn't as boring as the original," Aly debated, shaking her head causing her hair to tickle her neck. "At least Kristen Stewart's acting's improved since a billion years ago."

"Yes, well, it's still bad and there was never really a way for Twilight to improve anyway," Patrick said. "It was a lost cause and-"

"Hey, guys!"

Aly looked up to see Miya, panting from all the dancing she'd been doing.

"What are you talking about?"

Miya casually slumped herself onto the sofa in between Aly and Patrick.

"The remake of Twilight," Patrick answered. "You seen it yet?"

"No, and I really don't want to," Miya shook her head.

The Asian girl let out a heavy sigh, which further annoyed Aly for no reason, and asked, "Why are you guys being so boring? Let's go dance."

Miya grabbed Aly and Patrick's hands and sat up straight, about the help them to their feet, but Aly pulled her own hand away and backed away.

Miya looked at Aly with a confused look.

"I... I need a refill," Aly said, shaking the empty solo cup that was held in her right hand.

Aly stood up and headed to the coffee table, where James had left Corey's backpack full of various kinds of vodka.

Aly'd decided that one cup of whatever the hell kind of liquor she'd been drinking was enough, since she'd had to drive herself and Aiden home later, so she turned around and walked out of the loud, dark and crowded living room to go to the kitchen.

The softer - though not by much - DJ Snake and Lil Jon's Turn Down For What became, the aroma of something sweet and... warm grew increasingly pungent, almost nauseating for Aly.

Aly's eyes widened as she stepped into the kitchen to see Corey appear to be cooking something.

"Corey," she called over the music, walking closer to the stove where he'd been standing. "What are you doing?"

Corey turned to look at Aly with the widest grin plastered on his face. "Have you seen all of the candy?"

Aly nodded. Bella had told the others over and over again of all the candy she'd bought for specially this party (What was this? A party for Oompa Loompas?).

"What's going on?" Aly didn't wait for an answer before she'd turned the plate off and moved the saucepan onto a different plate.

"I thought that I could make one big gummy worm out of many gummy worms," Corey said.

Aly rubbed her temples. The countertop at which Corey was working was plastered in sticky, melted candy, and it would take nearly an hour to scrub off of the granite tops.

Fortunately for Aly, it gave her a reason to stay away from the others. Maybe sooner or later, they'd realize that she hadn't been around, and they'd come looking for her.

Or maybe they wouldn't.

"Corey, you can't go to somebody's house and make a giant gummy worm in their kitchen," Aly explained sternly, bending down to find cleaning supplies in the cabinets. "It's impolite."

"What's impolite about it?" Corey asked, pretty innocently, as if he really didn't understand boundaries.

"Well, you're using things that don't belong to you," Aly said.

"Aha!" she exclaimed when she'd finally found some detergent and supplies.

Corey took some supplies from her hands and said with a small frown, "I'm sorry if I upset you."

"Oh no, sweetie," Aly shook her head, feeling some sort of remorse. "You haven't upset me."

"Then why do you look so sad?"

Aly squirted some green gel-like detergent onto the countertop and began to scrub the sticky candy off of it, which wasn't as hard as she'd assumed it would be.

Aly chuckled off Corey's question, but she was really a little concerned that she wasn't as good as hiding her annoyance as much as she thought she was.

"I'm just tired," Aly said, which wasn't a lie. She'd been distant and lonely all day and all night, and not having anyone to talk to was beginning to take its toll on her.

"You know what could wake you up?" Corey smirked.

Aly cocked an eyebrow. "Alcohol?"

"Candy," he smirked again.

Someone needed to tell Corey that candy doesn't solve life's problems, but it definitely wasn't going to be Aly.

Corey picked up a teaspoon that had been laying on the countertop of the island and used it to scoop up dark, multicolored, thick and lumpy goo from the saucepan he'd been using.

"Try it," he urged, holding the spoon out in front of her. "I bet it's good."

Aly had to admit; the sweet smell certainly had her wanting to taste whatever the hell that was.

Aly opened her mouth and leaned forward to eat the gooey substance and after several struggled chews, she'd swallowed. It wasn't bad, and it was certainly edible, but it definitely was not good.

But, despite its peculiar taste, it was still molten candy, and it still had the power to fill Aly with some sort of sprightliness and joyousness. It _was_ candy, after all.

"Great," Aly forced a smile, not wanting to disappoint Corey.

Corey's eyes lit up and he said, "Awesome. I guess I'll make a giant gummy worm at home, then. My mom will probably kill me but my dad will love the idea of-"

"_There_ you are!"

Aly's spine stiffened as Corey was interrupted by the sound of Aria's voice.

Aly turned around to see Aria, her eyes roaming the messy kitchen, with Miya beside her.

"Hey guys!" Aly faked a huge smile, that sort of hurt her jaw. "How are you?"

"Great," Miya answered, though her statement sounded like more of a question. "A little confused, though. What's been going on with you these past few days?"

Aly swallowed and tried to come up with a lie to save herself.

"I... I've been hanging out with Corey," she blurted, placing a hand on Corey's shoulder.

"What?" Corey asked.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Save the lies, Aly. We know you're mad at us for no reason."

Aria looked a lot more pissed than Miya, although Aly was expecting that, since Aria hated being lied to.

"I just... feel..." Aly stammered.

"This is good; releasing your inner struggles, sharing them with the people you care about," Corey spoke up from beside Aly. "You know, conflict not only hurts you but it also hurts the people around you, which is why you have to share your pain, so that you can all move forwards toward a happier, more peaceful tomorrow."

Aly stared back at him blankly, and then said, "Thank you, sweetie, but do you mind giving us a moment alone?"

"Sure," Corey shrugged, and hurried out the kitchen dancing to On the Floor by Jennifer Lopez.

Miya moved closer to Aly, and Aria hesitantly did the same.

"If something's bothering you, just tell us," Miya said soothingly.

Aly nodded and took a deep breath. "Why did you tell Bella about your crush on James and not me?"

Miya and Aria exchanged confused glances and Aly felt her eyebrows perk up.

"I didn't tell Bella," Miya said. "I only told Aria."

"I didn't tell anybody, I swear," Aria told Miya, shaking her head.

Despite feeling a little guilty, as well as embarrassed, it had still hurt Aly to know that Miya would tell Aria about her feelings for James, but not Aly. It made her feel more left out.

"Well... you've been hanging out with Bella a lot and you're fawning over her like she's this... this gift from God," Aly began to ramble, earning questioning looks from her friends. "You guys didn't even notice that I hadn't returned to my seat after my audition the other day, because you were both too busy gawking over Bella and... it's all going to snowball, you see? You're going to just get closer and closer to her until it's Aria and Miya and Bella, and no longer Aria and Miya and Aly."

Aly exhaled with relief of unloading her feelings, but was disappointed in not receiving the sympathetic looks that she'd wanted to receive.

"Oh my God, Aly," Miya groaned, stomping her left foot. "Why the hell would we just randomly replace you with Bella? You're being paranoid and petty."

"Yeah," Aria nodded, appearing angrier than Miya. "I can't believe you're this childish to think that we're, like... I don't know, plotting to replace you? We care about you, dammit! Now, just... Grow up and stop feeling sorry for yourself."

As much as Aly did not want to hear that, she knew it was true. She did have a tendency to play the victim, and she really was rather immature. Her friends were right, but Aly could not bring herself to say that aloud.

She needed to play the guilt-trip card.

"I can't believe you guys see me as this... weak and immature brat," Aly pouted, though it really was genuine. They did see her in that light, anyway. "I get that I'm not strong like either of you but I really, _really_ try. I just want people to see me the way they you guys and I'm stronger - I really am - than I was before. I can't believe that my two best friends in the world haven't noticed that."

Aly knew she was in the wrong for saying that. She knew that they were right when they'd said that she was being childish and petty, but if it was okay for them to make her feel terrible then it was certainly okay for her to do the same to them.

Based on the guilty looks they were wearing, Aly seemed to have successfully manipulated her friends into accepting blame for the situation, but it wasn't as if she'd lied. They really _did_ underestimate Aly's strength sometimes.

"We're sorry we made you feel that way," Miya frowned, pulling Aly into a tight embrace.

Aria hugged Aly immediately after she was released from Miya's grip, speaking fairly softly into her ear, "Yeah, you're not nobody. You're one of us."

****GLEE****

It was already two hours into the party, and Lydia still wished that she would disappear.

Despite the party consisting only of fourteen people, Lydia was feeling increasingly claustrophobic, being unable to get away for even a second. Although Lydia wasn't necessarily friends with nearly everybody there, she was certainly on good terms with most of them.

Lydia leaned against the wall of the living room and took a sip of the cherry-flavored vodka she'd been drinking, assuming that it'd help her to loosen up a little which it had not.

"Lydia, why are you standing here all alone?" Miya asked, as she walked past with Aria and Aly. "Come dance with us."

"Nah, I'm good," Lydia shook her head.

While Aria didn't seem to care much and headed straight for the dance floor (i.e. where the coffee table usually is but had been pushed aside to make room), Aly and Miya looked at Lydia as if they'd felt a little bad for leaving her behind.

"I'm not much of a dancer, really," she would have said, but instead, she went with, "I'll join you in a minute."

Aly nodded - and looked even more beaten down and helpless than she did at the glee club auditions, which nobody but Lydia herself seemed to really notice - and she and Miya hurried off.

Lydia groaned, her eyes feeling very heavy. It must have been the flashing lights (where the hell did that come from?) that hurt her eyes.

"You okay?"

Lydia rubbed her eyes and saw Jordan standing in front of her.

"Where _were_ you?" Lydia asked. "You left me alone and people kept asking me if I was sad or if I wanted to dance and I'm tired. I just wanna sleep."

"Well, I'm sorry about that," Jordan said - well, she didn't just _say_ it. When Jordan said something, she meant it. "I was writing my article and I needed some peace and quiet."

"You could have taken me with you."

"I'm sorry," Jordan repeated. She then moved to lean against the wall beside Lydia.

"It's not that bad if you're on the outside looking in," Jordan said, watching the group of dancing teens. "It's like a scene out of _The Great Gatsby._"

"What does this party have to do with _The Great Gatsby_?" Lydia asked, about to take another sip of her drink and realizing that her cup was empty.

Jordan stood up straight quickly. "What does a _party_ have to do with _The Great Gatsby_? What does _breathing_ have to do with _life_?"

"Forget I asked," Lydia said. "I had forgotten that _The Great Gatsby_ was a book about parties."

"A book about _parties_?" Jordan sounded offended, although Lydia knew she was in for a lesson on Fitzgerald and The Jazz Age the second the words had tumbled out of her mouth. "Have you read _The Great Gatsby_?"

"Yes. You forced me to last year," Lydia answered. She really just wanted to sleep, but somehow Jordan was keeping her eyes open.

"You shouldn't say that I'd forced you unless I'd held a gun to your head and threatened to rupture your brain if you'd refused to read _The Great Gatsby_."

Lydia blinked. "Huh?"

She'd zoned out for a few moments; she was pretty sure she was asleep during that time.

"Oh dear God," Jordan sighed.

Lydia rubbed her eyes again, and blinked several times when that hadn't helped to awaken her properly.

"Hey, guys!" Lydia jumped a little, feeling half-asleep, and looked to the center of the room to see Aria waving her over.

"I am really, _really_ sorry but I'm gonna have to abandon you again," she heard Jordan whisper into her ear.

"What?" Lydia turned her head to see that Jordan had vanished, and when she'd turned to look at the others again, she was slightly surprised to see Aly in front of her.

"We're going to play a game," Aly said, taking Lydia's hand and leading her towards the bigger group. "Don't worry; we're not going to make you do anything you're not comfortable doing."

Lydia nodded, even though Aly couldn't see her nod, and followed Aly to further into the room, until she'd finally taken a seat on the carpet in between Bella and Aly.

What Lydia really needed was a drink, just to keep her awake, but she definitely wasn't going to get one from Bella, who was drinking orange soda, or from Aly, who wasn't holding a cup at all, and Lydia was far too tired and lazy to get a drink herself.

"What are we playing?" Patrick asked, from the opposite end of the circle that they were seated in.

"Marry-fuck-kill," James smirked from beside him.

Lydia was pretty sure she knew how that game worked, but she was definitely too tired to pay attention.

"Who wants to ask?" James asked.

It was Miya, Lydia thought, who offered to ask, but she wasn't 100% sure as to what was going on. It was a girl's voice, that was for sure.

"Aly," the girl-voice said. "Lydia, Corey, Aria."

"Why Lydia and Aria?" Aly asked. "They're girls."

Aly's response was enough to wake Lydia up.

Anybody who was playing a game like Marry-Fuck-Kill would answer without questioning their choices, unless they had something to hide.

From Lydia's experience, if person A was asked to choose between B, C, and D and A had a huge crush on B, then A would hesitate and be very nervous when it came to answering. However, if A had no feelings toward B, C or D, then answering would be fairly easy for A.

It was the same with somebody who wasn't straight, and was still closeted. A straight girl would find it easier to kiss another girl in public than a closeted lesbian would, because the lesbian would try her best to avoid showing any attraction to other girls. That was just the way people were.

"Just answer," the Miya-sounding voice (just ten, Lydia looked up to see that it really _was_ Miya) said. "It's just a game."

Aly hunched her shoulders and spoke into her lap, "I would kill... Aria, and-"

There were a few gasps in response.

"What?" Aria asked.

"I would sleep with Lydia and marry Corey," Aly finished, ignoring Aria's reaction. "No, _marry_ Lydia and _sleep_ with Corey. No - _sleep_ with Lydia and _marry_ Corey."

"I'm your best friend and you'd kill me?" Aria asked, watching Aly with a raised eyebrow.

"Just a game, right?" Aly breathed.

Lydia watched as Aly didn't dare to look up from her lap, and what she'd gathered from that was that a) Aly liked girls, and b) Aly most likely didn't consider Aria a real friend.

It was pretty weird, really, that Aly would choose Lydia herself and Corey over Aria, who everyone had considered one of Aly's two soul sisters along with Miya, but the more Lydia thought about it, the more it made sense.

Aly was never really like the people she hung out with, and Lydia always knew that. Perhaps she simply felt that she didn't fit in.

Aria still looked pissed at Aly's answer, though Lydia was pretty indifferent, and Corey didn't seem to care much either, appearing to count something on his fingers.

"Okay..." Miya said awkwardly. "Luke."

"Hmm?"

Luke appeared to be as tired and zoned out as Lydia was, but as far as Lydia was concerned, he always looked that way.

"Bella, Barbra or-"

Before she could finish, the group got distracted by Corey standing up and leaving the room for whatever reason.

Lydia was definitely a little curious as to know where he was going, but nobody else seemed to care, even a little.

"Or... Aly?" Miya finished.

"And you can't choose to sleep with all of them," Aria said playfully.

Based on Aria's smirk and teasing tone, the blonde girl probably thought that her snark was pretty amusing, but based on Luke's raised eyebrow and clenched jaw, her comment was probably anything but.

All Lydia could think was thank God Aria wasn't an option, otherwise she'd have been killed twice that night.

"Marry Barbra, fuck Aly and kill Bella," Luke said quickly, before getting to his feet and heading out the room in the same way Corey had moments earlier.

His answer was kind of a surprise, though, as Lydia was pretty sure that nobody at that party would want to marry Barbra no matter who the other choices were.

It had suddenly occurred to Lydia that she didn't know where her younger sister was, and she squinted, her eyes roaming the circle until she'd finally spotted Babs looking very, very uncomfortable.

Barbra's problem was that she hated being invisible with every fibre of her being, and sitting unnoticed in that circle was probably draining for Babs.

Lydia yawned and she heard herself say, "I need a drink," without even thinking to.

"Here," she heard one of the guys - Patrick? - say.

She felt her cup grow increasingly heavy and brought the sweet and strong alcohol to her lips.

The rest of the night was a blur.

****GLEE****

Aiden wasn't sure when they'd all stopped playing Marry-Fuck-Kill (which had lasted about 3 minutes) and switched to karaoke, but he was definitely having a blast.

The music began, and Aiden bobbed his head while Patrick began to sing.

"_I was walking away, but she's so beautiful it made me stay_," he sang into the microphone, some of the others dancing around the big guy. "_I don't know her name, but I'm hoping she might feel the same_."

He quickly passed the microphone to James, who took over for a brief moment. "_So here I go again. She got my heart again._"

Aiden and Ben joined in with the two older boys, while Aiden grabbed Bella by the arms and danced with her.

"_Tonight we'll dance  
I'll be yours and you'll be mi-ay-ay-ay-ine  
We won't look back,  
Take my hand and we will shi-ay-ay-ay-ine,_"

Aiden twirled Bella around and then let her go.

"_Oh, oh, oh,  
She needs a wild heart  
She needs a wild heart  
I got a wild heart  
Oh, oh, oh,  
She needs a wild heart  
She needs a wild heart  
I got a wild heart,_"

The microphone was passed to Ben next. "_And I know it's late, I know it's cold. But come right here, I swear I'll never let you go._"

Ben tossed the microphone to Aiden, and Aiden caught it and sang, "_The way you move—it's wonderful. Let's do it now, 'cause one day we'll both be old... Oh whoa oh!_"

All four boys sang loudly while the others danced around them.

"_Tonight we'll dance  
I'll be yours and you'll be mi-ay-ay-ay-ine  
We won't look back,  
Take my hand and we will shi-ay-ay-ay-ine,_

_Oh, oh, oh,  
She needs a wild heart  
She needs a wild heart  
I got a wild heart,_

_Tonight we'll dance  
I'll be yours and you'll be mi-ay-ay-ay-ine  
We won't look back,  
Take my hand and we will shi-ay-ay-ay-ine,_

_Oh, oh, oh,  
She needs a wild heart  
She needs a wild heart  
I got a wild heart  
Oh, oh, oh,  
She needs a wild heart  
She needs a wild heart  
I got a wild heart_."

Aiden cheered once the song was over, a few others doing the same, and he threw himself onto a sofa to relax.

Bella joined him and asked, "This is really loud but really fun. Are high school parties always like this?"

"I don't know," Aiden answered, staring at the ceiling. "This is my first one, remember?"

"You smell like alcohol," Bella said. "Have you been drinking?"

"Yes," Aiden answered, shifting his eyes to look at Bella. "Haven't you?"

Bella shook her head. "I'm not allowed to."

Aiden couldn't help but laugh. "None of us are."

"Hey guys."

Aiden sat up straight to see Ben, who looked especially good that night - not that Aiden was checking him out or anything.

"The others wanna play Truth or Dare or Spin the Bottle or whatever," Ben said, "Do you wanna join them?"

"I don't know," Aiden shrugged. "Do _you_?"

"Whatever you guys want is fine," Ben sighed.

"I don't know, should we?" Bella asked. "I don't know if I'm comfortable playing those games and my parents would kill me if they found out but I feel like everybody sees me as this goody-two-shoes right now and I really wanna play a game. I _love_ games; it's just that I don't usually play _these_ kinds of games and I'm not sure-"

"I guess we're playing then," Aiden interrupted Bella.

Bella crossed her arms. "I told you. I'm not comfortable with this."

Aiden reached over to the coffee table that was pushed to beside the sofa on which Aiden and Bella were sitting.

He picked up a bottle of vodka and handed it to Bella.

"Drink this and you'll be comfortable."

Bella's eyes widened. "I can't!"

"Look, Ben and I aren't gonna let anything happen to you," Aiden said. "Just drink it in moderation and you'll feel more relaxed and you'll be more easy-going."

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "You'll be perfectly fine just as long as you don't drink too much."

Bella stared at the bottle and then downed the remains of the orange soda that was in her solo cup.

Aiden opened used a bottle opener to open the vodka bottle and filled Bella's cup about a third of the way. He really didn't want her to go too crazy or endanger herself in any way, so he'd given her only a little alcohol.

Slowly and somewhat dramatically, Bella brought to cup to her lips and took a sip, pulling a face after she'd swallowed.

"This is disgusting," she complained.

Aiden and Ben both chuckled, and Aiden said, "Come on, let's go play."

Unlike with the last game, the group playing was smaller this time.

Lydia had disappeared. Luke hadn't returned from wherever. Barbra was gone and Aiden hadn't seen Bella's sister all night.

Corey, however, had rejoined the group, despite not being wanted by many of the others which did not include Aiden.

"Aiden," Patrick said, once they'd all settled into a circle. "Truth or dare."

"Dare," Aiden smirked.

He was perfectly happy being up first and Aiden was certainly willing to perform whatever dares were thrown at him.

"I dare you to kiss the prettiest girl in the room," James said.

Aiden felt his cheeks burn hot, and he was pretty sure that it wasn't from all of the dancing or the singing or the alcohol.

Aiden wasn't naturally an easily embarrassed boy, but he was certainly anxious about performing this specific dare.

"Come on," Patrick urged. "Who's it gonna be?"

Aiden knew that if he'd simply spoked the truth - if he'd said that he really didn't want to kiss any girl ever - then everybody else would have been perfectly okay with it, and would have told him to kiss the hottest boy in the room.

That would have been easy; he would have kissed Ben.

But Aiden simply wasn't ready to tell them.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss..."

As they all chanted on, Aiden felt his cheeks burn hotter and hotter in embarrassment.

He bowed his head and let out a loud mannered chuckle to keep things light.

"I can't," he finally said.

Aiden heard several boos and groans but tried his best to ignore the others.

"Why not?" James asked.

"Because," Aiden twiddled his thumbs and raised his head.

All eyes were on him, and his eyes darted from right to left as he noticed the curious but bored looks that the others were giving him.

"How can I kiss the prettiest girl in the room when that girl is my sister?"

Before the others could react, Aiden exhaled with relief.

At least he didn't lie.

"Aw," Aly sang, while the others simply booed him and gave him weird looks.

"Seriously, just do it," James said.

Aiden thought for a moment and decided that he should perform the dare - it was only a game after all, and he was already half-drunk anyway.

"Okay," Aiden slurred, faking a grin. "I'll kiss Aria then."

Aiden was entirely sure as to why he'd chosen Aria, but he certainly wasn't going to pick Aly, nor was he going to pick Bella since she was like a sister to him.

Aiden got to his knees and crawled to the center of the circle, where he was face to face with Aria.

Aiden swallowed and closed his eyes, and he'd been completely passive in letting Aria kiss him and simply waiting for the kiss to end.

The kiss had lasted only a brief moment, as Aiden hadn't been able to bring himself to kiss Aria back, and when they'd pulled away, Aiden blushed at the others' response of "ooh"s.

Aiden returned to his original spot earning a pat on the back from Ben.

"I have a feeling that all of the dares are going to be like this," Aria said. "Kissing, I mean. We should probably just play spin the bottle."

Aiden missed James' reply when he'd noticed that Bella's cup was empty.

"Whoa, Bells," he said. "You actually drank all of it?"

"I was thirsty," Bella responded defensively. "And it was only a little bit anyway."

"Okay, well, don't drink any more than that," Aiden said as sternly as he possibly could.

When he'd returned his attention to The Circle, he'd noticed Patrick placing a bottle in the middle.

"If we get anybody we're related to, we'll spin again," Patrick said. "Who's first?"

"I'll go."

Aiden had nearly choked on his drink when he heard Bella volunteer to be first up in a round of spin the bottle.

"What?" he heard Ben say from his left.

Bella leaned over to spin the bottle, and after a few clumsy spins, it had landed on Chris.

Chris raised an eyebrow and asked Bella, "You sure?"

Bella nodded, "It's just a game."

Bella and Chris leaned into The Circle to share a kiss - Bella's very first kiss, which she'd suddenly given up so easily, baffling Aiden, and probably Ben too.

Fortunately for Aiden, The Circle had decided to play their game in a counter-clockwise direction, which had James spinning the bottle next.

After a fairly long wait, the bottle had landed facing Aly, and Aiden was definitely not a fan of seeing his sister make out with James, or anybody for that matter. It was too weird.

Corey was third up, and by then Aiden was wishing that the game would end soon. He sort of just wanted to dance, talk, have fun, and games that opened up the Pandora's box of insecurity within him was not fun.

Corey spun the bottle, fairly violently, and Aiden found himself somewhat hypnotized by the fast spinning. The bottled slowed down and slowed down, until finally, it came to a halt.

Facing Aiden.

Aiden swallowed, although Corey seemed ready as ever.

"Uh..."

"Why are you waiting for?" Corey asked. "Flowers and chocolates?"

Aiden decided that it was best not to protest, and simply leaned further into The Circle.

Everyone who was a part of The Circle was pretty drunk anyway.

While Aiden certainly had the same happy and outgoing attitude that Corey had, he often found himself wishing that he had Corey's confidence as well. Corey did whatever he wanted to without giving a shit about what other people thought, and in Aiden's eyes, Corey's attitude seemed to be the key to ultimate happiness.

Aiden kind of looked up to Corey in that respect, but he'd never tell Ben that.

Kissing Corey was definitely not like kissing Aria. Aiden didn't feel anything at all, but it was more fun, for some reason.

After the cheers had died down, Aiden said, "I gotta go to the bathroom," deciding that it was best that he no longer partake in party games.

****GLEE****

"Look, I know that every time I leave the room, this party dies a little bit, but I'll be back. Just don't miss me too much."

Ben rolled his eyes as he heard Corey shout from the other side of the room. The other boy just seemed to get cockier and cockier as the night went on.

"Why are you drinking so much?" Aiden asked.

Ben shrugged. "I don't know. I just get thirsty and I drink what's there."

Aiden shook his head and took Ben's can of beer from him. "No, no, no. That's enough."

"You're acting like your sister," Ben stated emotionlessly.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "You're no fun drunk; no offense."

"None taken," Ben shrugged.

"Hey guys," Bella said, not pausing in her dance. "Why are you being all boring, sitting here? Come dance with me!"

She grabbed Ben and Aiden by their hands and Aiden got to his feet, Ben doing the same immediately after.

"You see, _this_ is why I'm so thirsty," Ben explained. "Because you guys have so much energy and won't let me take a break from dancing."

"It's not like we're making you dance," Aiden said.

Ben knew it was true, but it was natural for him to simply do whatever his friends were doing. It wasn't as if he could help it, but it wasn't as if his go-with-the-flow attitude (as Ben had preferred to call it) made him a bad person.

When he was with his school friends like Hunter, instead of his childhood friends like Aiden, then yes, it probably _did_ make him a bad person.

Aiden and Bella had always been able to see the bright side of things, saying that Ben was "agreeable" as opposed to "a follower" and Ben quite liked the way his friends would twist his flaws so that he could see himself in a more positive light.

"Aaaand I'm back!"

Ben groaned as Corey re-entered the room, waving his way through people in a dance.

"You didn't miss me too much, did you?" Corey winked at Miya, who didn't seem to notice him, being too preoccupied with her dancing.

"Who am I kidding? Of course you did!"

"Oh my God, Corey!" Ben snapped. "Will you just shut up already?"

Corey turned to face Ben and asked, "Why would I do that?"

Ben rolled his eyes, and felt Aiden's hand on his shoulder.

"This is what I mean about the drinking," Aiden said. "You lose your temper too easily when you're drunk."

"Yeah, listen to Aiden, man," Corey said. "Don't go starting trouble with me for no reason. It's like... screwing with God."

"Seriously?" Ben demanded. "You _seriously_ think you're God?"

"Whoa, what the hell is going on here?"

It was Patrick, stood beside in between Ben and Corey, with James right behind him.

Ben ignored his brother. Maybe it was just the alcohol but Ben was angry and Corey was annoying.

Screwing with God? Who the fuck did Corey think he was?

"You're unbelievable," Ben hissed. "You think that everybody loves when actually nobody cares about you. You are literally the single most irritating person in the world and you have no real friends - not at this party, or at school, and you probably never will. Everybody freakin' cringes every time you open your mouth-"

Ben stumbled backwards, but didn't fall over, being supported by Aiden and Bella. He was interrupted by Corey shoving him.

"Hey!" Patrick yelled.

By the time Ben had fully processed Aly saying "Guys, just walk away," his fist was already headed for Corey's jaw.

Ben felt his knuckles crack as his fist hit Corey's face with full force, and watched, slightly perplexed as Corey stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, eyes closed.

Ben was entirely sure - he was tipsy, anyway - but between over the blaring music and the gasps and the shouts, he may have heard Corey's head hit the coffee table.

Ben shook off the pain in his hand as him and the others watched Corey laying on the floor, as if he was sound asleep.


End file.
